The collapse of a construction scaffold on a western St. Thomas worksite on June 14 is now the subject of an investigation by the Labor Department. A spokeswoman for the agency acknowledged on Tuesday that a probe is underway but gave no specifics at this time.
Ten construction workers — described by one source as migrant workers — were rushed to the Roy L. Schneider Hospital Emergency Room for treatment of injuries linked to that collapse, according to a statement issued June 14. One accident victim was airlifted to the U.S. mainland for further treatment; two more are believed to have also been sent off island as well.
“We are aware of the incident and it is under investigation. There is no further comment at this time,” said Labor Public Information Officer Davina Martinez on Tuesday.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., speaking to the Source on Sunday, said he tried to contact owners of the site where the accident occurred but had not yet received a return phone call. The governor added he was particularly concerned about the three people who were reportedly airlifted from here, but so far, no one had gotten back to him.
One of the concerns expressed by the governor was that the accident victims may have been day laborers, and whether they would be eligible for worker’s compensation.
Upon making follow-up inquiries to Schneider Regional Medical Center about the number of severely injured construction workers, spokeswoman Karen Rennie said she would seek further information. According to the statement released by SRMC, the injuries suffered by 10 male patients brought to the emergency room in private vehicles included spinal compression, fractures, impalements and abrasions.
One unconfirmed source speaking recently to a Source reporter and who is familiar with the area where the incident occurred said one worker may have suffered a broken neck. The June 14 accident is believed to have occurred in the vicinity of Botany Bay.
Prior to holding the position of territorial chief executive, Bryan served as Labor commissioner under former Gov. John de Jongh. If faced with a similar scenario, he said the department would contact the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) office in Puerto Rico.
But the governor added that OSHA regulations in the Virgin Islands apply to worksites for public construction projects only. Further clarification came from Paloma Renteria, an official at the U.S. Department of Labor media office in Washington, D.C.
Oversight for jobsite safety and health matters varies from state to state, Renteria said. “It sort of depends on geographic location,” she said. “Some are bound by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, but some states have their own OSHA state plans.”
“The U.S. Virgin Islands, for example, has a state-approved plan that covers local and state government workers. Everyone else, private companies for example, are regulated by federal OSHA guidelines. Those federal guidelines include adherence to the OSHA Act, which we discussed, and its general duty clause which requires every employer to provide a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees,” Renteria said.
The federal agency spokeswoman added that multiple agencies might get involved in a job site accident probe, examining multiple facets of the event.
When asked how OSHA could be alerted to construction site accidents, Renteria said several things could occur.
“If we wanted to know more about a specific case we would have to ask one of our colleagues to see if that is something OSHA would look into. Emergency responders would be one of the first on the scene. In that case a first responder might contact OSHA to notify them,” she said.
And sometimes the workers themselves might reach out if they believe the employer might have done something wrong. “Typically OSHA finds out and investigates, but would not make any public statements,” the U.S. Labor spokeswoman said.
It’s likely that one of those notification pathways may have come into play during the June 14 incident. Medical center officials said the 10 injured workers showed up to the emergency room around 10:45 a.m. Records kept by VITEMA show a 911 call logged in around 11 a.m. that Friday morning.
“A call did come in at 11 o’clock from a government worker saying that 10 or 11 people were brought into Schneider Hospital from a worksite accident. There were no calls from any private citizen,” said VITEMA Assistant Director Steve De Blasio, “and that’s the reason why they deployed VIPD to go and take a look at the situation.”
