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Oct 21, 2023

16 Nashville construction workers died in 2016 and 2017. Here's what happened to them.

Sixteen construction workers died in the Nashville metropolitan area during 2016

Sixteen construction workers died in the Nashville metropolitan area during 2016 and 2017 — the deadliest two-year stretch in more than three decades, according to a Tennessean analysis of state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration data.

Most died at single-family residential construction sites or at apartment buildings.

En español:Ignoran reglas de seguridad y mueren más trabajadores durante auge de vivienda en Nashville

Alfonso Dominguez, 60, climbed a pitched roof of a North Nashville home on a Wednesday last June. It was in the 80s, and the black asphalt was hot.

Dominguez was a runner for the three-man crew, and earned $10 an hour, his brother said. He carried shingles to his boss on one end of the roof, to a co-worker on the other, and he kept the roof tidy, a state safety inspector wrote in a report.

About 2:30 p.m., Alfonso Dominguez lost his balance and fell 24 feet into the neighbor's yard. An ambulance took him to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he spent 11 days in a coma, with internal bleeding and head injuries, before dying.

In August, Joe Ford was finishing off a set of concrete and steel stairs at a new building on Carter Street when he removed a lag bolt that was securing the top of a staircase.

The stairs twisted, and Ford, 63, fell to the concrete floor 17 feet below. He died the next day of internal bleeding, a herniated brain and other injuries, his son Daniel said.

In July 2016, Ivan Sanchez was working for a small roofing subcontractor on what seemed like a low-risk job. He and a co-worker were making finishing touches to the roof of a new modern home in Sylvan Heights.

That day his employer, Walter Nuñez, had harnesses in his truck, but nobody was using them because the roof was flat and they thought harnesses were unnecessary, according to TOSHA interviews with Nuñez and another worker.

Sanchez, 30, left his own harness at home, his wife said.

A co-worker on the roof with Sanchez told the TOSHA inspector he was about 15 feet from him, facing the other direction, when, "I heard a yell. I turned around and he was gone." TOSHA does not reveal the names of witnesses.

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Salazar stepped onto a plank extended into an unguarded elevator shaft and fell 27 feet to a concrete floor. He had no protection from the fall, inspectors found.

Bedoya fell about 30 feet from a door opening to a concrete floor. TOSHA could not determine whether the opening was safeguarded at the time of the fall.

De la Cruz-Ortiz was installing window blocking and fell 15 feet through an air duct hole. The hole was covered with plywood, inspectors reported, but the plywood wasn't secured or marked. It was previously secured, but someone removed the bolts, said Harold Brewer, president of American Constructors. "It was truly an accident," he said.

Kemp, the project superintendent, tried to jump over a 2-foot-wide opening of a trench. He lost his balance and fell 22 feet. There was nothing to stop his fall, according to TOSHA. EMB Quality Masonry is contesting the TOSHA violations.

Saillez, a handyman, was measuring the opening of a window on the second story of a garage. There were guardrails in place, but Saillez leaned outside the guardrails and fell 15 feet, an inspector found.

Pierce, a carpenter, was helping build an addition to a clubhouse when he fell six feet to his death. TOSHA could not determine if he fell from a ladder or a scaffold. Locks on the wheels of the scaffolding were not functioning properly, the inspector found.

Kane had finished adding plates to a bridge and was hit by a large metal cage being towed by another construction worker. TOSHA found the driver deviated from his planned route.

A roll of waterproofing weighing 60 pounds fell off the roof and hit Rodriguez, a plumber, in the head. He was on the side of the house, carrying PVC pipes to a crawl space. TOSHA found he was not wearing a hard hat. Mark Mihacsi, owner of Landmark Building Co., was not on the site at the time. "If I ever see anybody up there without a harness on, I tell them to leave the job," he said.

Gray was installing construction warning signs when he was stuck by a motorist who was swerving to avoid traffic.

Hartley was stripping the surface of a bathtub when he was overcome by methylene chloride. A TOSHA inspector found he was working in a room without proper ventilation.

Avalos and another painter were setting up a 40-foot aluminum ladder against a house when they hit a power line. Avalos died and his co-worker was seriously burned. The company owner had a safer fiberglass ladder, but they weren't using it. The owner didn't warn them of the power line; she told TOSHA she was unaware of it.

Mojica was sawing off a guardrail to install an interior wall on the fourth floor when he cut the railing and it gave way. He was not wearing a harness. "I don't know why he wasn't wearing a harness," said Jesus Navor, owner of Navor Framing. He also said removing the guardrail was against protocol.

Smith was installing a sewer line in a 5-foot-deep trench, according to the TOSHA inspector, when it caved in on him. There was no cave-in protection in the trench. Mike Mitchell, president of Mitchell Plumbing, said the trench was actually 48 inches, under the threshold for a protective system. "It was just a tragic accident," he said. "We would have never thought it would have happened."