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Companies Fined More Than $10,000 After Workers Hospitalized In Fayetteville

Federal regulators have fined two construction companies more than $10,000, after two workers were seriously injured in separate Fayetteville accidents earlier ...
Cardinal Complex.jpg

Federal regulators have fined two construction companies more than $10,000, after two workers were seriously injured in separate Fayetteville accidents earlier this year.

Thompson Thrift Construction was fined $6,930 by the federal Occupational Safety And Health Administration after a worker at the site of a student apartment complex in Fayetteville was shocked by an electrical line, according to documents released by OSHA.

Rafael Medina was taken Jan. 3 by a medical helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he was in serious condition. He was later released, but must make regular trips to Little Rock to undergo treatment for his burned fingers and toes, according to Thompson Thrift Construction, based in Indiana.

Medina was working with a long metal handle trowl on top of a concrete building at The Cardinal At West Center apartment complex. His pole touched a power line, according to the Fayetteville Fire Department. The construction worker suffered cardiac arrest at the site, but medical crews used a defibrillator to restart his heart.

In a separate case closed in May, Pace Construction Company was fined $5,670 after a man fell 30 feet while working on a Fayetteville bridge March 27, according to OSHA records. That penalty was later reduced to $3,402, records show.

The man was working with a team to widen a bridge at Interstate 49 and Porter Road when the scaffolding gave way, dropping him from the bridge onto the ground below, according to the Fayetteville Fire Department.

The unidentified man was rushed to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville with serious injuries.

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