The employer of the fatally-injured man failed to report the accident to OSHA, its area director said.
SPRINGFIELD – The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration is probing the death of a man who fell off the roof of the city-owned Asylum building while clearing snow nearly seven weeks ago.
Mary E. Hoye, area director of the Springfield OSHA office, confirmed Thursday that Jimi Lee Gibb died from injuries he suffered from a fall off the roof of the former nightclub on Main Street on Feb. 12.
“Our focus is to determine what happened and to determine if there was any violation of OSHA standards related to the fall,” Hoye said.
Gibb, 24, worked for Advanced Tree Services of Springfield.
Hoye said that the company, which is required to report such accidents within eight hours, failed to do so. A family member notified the OSHA of Gibb’s death some time later, she said.
OSHA initiated its investigation into the fatal fall on Feb. 24
“We had a very hard time concerning the details of when and where it happened,” Hoye said.
Thomas T. Walsh, spokesman for Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, said the city did not learn of the fatality until it was contacted by OSHA on Feb. 23.
Walsh said that Advanced Tree Service was under contract to clear snow from the property’s roof. A City Hall memo on the accident states that the victim “fell from the roof onto the company’s truck and was hospitalized, and later passed away after several days and surgeries.”
In a recently-released statement, Sarno said that he has directed the city Law Department to look into the incident and fully cooperate with authorities.
City Solicitor Edward Pikula said that the city’s internal investigation does not reveal any wrongdoing by city employees and that the city has contacted the vendor’s insurance agency to ensure they were on notice of the incident.
Advanced Tree Service could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The city purchased the building for $630,000 in 2009 and plans to demolish part of it to make room for a parking lot. The front section of the building will remain for retail and office use and possibly a ground-floor restaurant, officials said.