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Painter Injured in Water Tower Fall
BARABOO, WI--Federal authorities are searching for more information into a fall that severely injured a painter inside a water tower.
The victim, an employee of LC United Painting of Sterling Heights, MI, fell up to 70 feet while performing maintenance work on the City of Baraboo Water Tower.
The accident occurred about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (June 2), Baraboo City Administrator Edward Geick said in an emailed statement.
The man, who was not identified, was working on the tower as part of a contract for cleaning, repair and painting, Geick said.
Baraboo Utility Superintendent Wade Peterson told WMTV-TV that the man had fallen onto a platform while inside the tower's stem.
Peterson told madison.com that the tower had two decks, one 70 feet higher than the other. The man fell from some point between the two decks onto the lower one, he said.
His condition remained unavailable Friday (June 5).
LC United Painting did not respond to a request for more information.
Technical Rescue
The city's Fire and Ambulance personnel performed a technical rescue to lower the victim to the ground, where he was airlifted to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.
Inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration arrived Wednesday to begin their investigation.
It was not clear how the worker fell or if he had been wearing fall protection.
“We’re sorting through all of that right now,” Chad Greenwood, assistant area director with the Madison area OSHA office, told madison.com.
“Falling is one of the leading causes of death in the construct industry. And there are fall protection standards that have to be met. We are checking to make sure all standards were complied with in this instance.”
