The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating a construction-site incident in Fayetteville last week that left one worker hospitalized.
The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed to 5NEWS on Wednesday (Jan. 8 ) that OSHA is investigating the incident on Jan. 3 at the Cardinal at West Center complex, 4 S. Duncan Ave. OSHA is part of the Department of Labor.
A worker was hospitalized in serious condition after being shocked by an electric power line at the apartment construction site, according to the Fayetteville Fire Department.
Local authorities have declined to release the injured worker’s name.
The construction worker suffered cardiac arrest at the site, but medical crews used a defibrillator to restart his heart. He was then transported to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, said Mauro Campos, fire department battalion chief.
The worker was later transferred to a Springfield, Mo., burn center, where the Little Rock man was listed in serious condition.
The worker came into contact with a live power line at the construction site., Campos said. The man was working with a long metal handle trowl on the top of a concrete building, when his pole touched a power line, the battalion chief said.
Campos said the victim had a burn exit wound from the electricity that shocked his body.
Southwestern Electric Power Company also responded and turned off electricity at the location, Campos said.
The Cardinal apartment complex’s website encourages University of Arkansas students to live at the site, selling their location as close to the UA campus. Construction updates by the complex show dirt work began last summer, and framing for the walls started in October 2013.
The complex is scheduled to open in time for the UA’s fall 2014 semester, and has begun accepting applications for leases, according to the website.
Ownership of the land listed as the address for the complex transferred in 2008 to a Nathan Woodruff, according to a deed of the property. There is no activity on the deed since Woodruff took over ownership in March 2008, property records show.
