By: Zane Sparling
Source: oregonlive.com (TNS)
The death of an apprentice ironworker at Benson Polytechnic High School’s renovation could have been prevented by finding a safer method to move staircase railings, state investigators determined.
Instead, a forklift precariously carrying the railings struck Samantha “Sam” Deschenes and then ran her over on May 30, 2024. The 33-year-old single mom died two days later, leaving behind a 9-year-old son.
“The company made a series of flawed decisions, the investigation found, exposing workers to a struck-by hazard that could be expected to seriously injure or kill them,” said Aaron Corvin, an Oregon Occupational Safety and Health spokesperson.
The workplace safety agency in November issued a $40,289 fine against REFA Steel Erectors, the subcontractor that employed Deschenes and the forklift driver, foreman Joe Visalli.
REFA is a subsidiary of Andersen Construction, the general contractor for the $416 million renovation of the Northeast Portland school, which reopened last August. OHSA didn’t fine Andersen, finding that the company lacked “sufficient knowledge” of the dangerous method used.
REFA is appealing the fine, and an attorney representing both companies declined to comment.
Deschenes’ parents have sued Andersen Construction for $25 million. Portland Public Schools board members are currently scrutinizing the general contractor due to the see-sawing cost for the upcoming modernization of Jefferson High School, which at one point reached an estimate of $491 million.
A voluminous case file released by the state safety agency to The Oregonian/OregonLive shows how the fatal incident unfolded, beginning with the erroneous delivery of the 20-foot-long metal railings to the wrong side of the construction site on Northeast 15th Avenue.
A supervisor asked Visalli to move the railings by suspending them from the forklift’s small crane, with Deschenes and another worker holding on to the ends of the load to prevent it from swinging, according to OSHA.
Surveillance camera footage obtained by OSHA showed Deschenes walking briskly near the forklift’s front wheels when tragedy struck.
In its report, OHSA noted the “quick rate of speed” and said the load handlers may have been fatigued. After transporting two loads of railings without incident, the workers were on their third trip when the crash occurred.
Visalli told investigators he was trying to maintain a walking speed with the accelerator. He declined to comment to the news organization.
The safety agency also noted that a pre-task plan scratched out in pencil didn’t adequately address the possible dangers to the crew, including a traffic flagger, who were transporting the railings along Northeast Irving Street toward 15th Avenue.
OHSA said the railings could have been safely moved on a flatbed truck, by hand, or by attaching guidelines to the railings so the two load handlers could stand farther back.
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