Death of Forest Park worker leads to $122,000 fine

The December death of a Forest Park worker prompted the federal safety agency this week to levy a $121,800 fine against a Wisconsin company.

Leonardo De Jesus, 27, fell nearly four stories while installing a pallet storage system at an under-construction Kroger distribution center. A co-worker was injured.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Reich Installation Services Inc., which builds shelving and conveyor systems into warehouses, two “willful” and two “serious” safety citations on June 13. The agency added the proposed fine this week.

OSHA, in a press release, said Reich “failed to have a competent person inspect the rail supporting a scaffold system nearly 80 feet off the ground for visible defects.”

The workers, according to OSHA, were trying to fix the scaffold when it fell 40 feet. While both men wore fall-protection gear, De Jesus’ gear came unbuckled and he fell to the ground. His co-worker was suspended in mid-air and suffered minor injuries.

“Reich Installation’s disregard for the scaffold’s installation specifications and the lack of an inspection, after encountering problems, caused this preventable death,” Keith Hass, OSHA’s acting director of the Atlanta-West Office, said in a statement. “Reich management was advised by a third-party of proper scaffold methods and should not have put these workers at risk.”