Los Angeles Worker Killed in 53-Story Fall

A construction worker who was killed in a fall from a building in Downtown Los Angeles has been identified.

Details about the Fatal Fall

KTLA News is reporting that the name of the construction worker who was killed after he fell from the 53rd floor of the Wilshire Grand Center and landing on a passing vehicle in Downtown Los Angeles was released on Friday.

The victim, 35-year-old Joseph Sabbatino, was only on his second day on the job when he fell from the skyscraper that was under construction just after noon on Thursday, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Sabbatino landed on the back of a vehicle that was heading down Wilshire Boulevard and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The woman in the vehicle was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

An investigation into the accident is currently being conducted by OSHA, however, the construction company indicated in an email that the fall was not work-related. Turner Construction Company told the Los Angeles Times that there was no reason for the worker to have been above the third floor of the high-rise to begin with.

Important Information about Construction Accidents

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration indicates that there are hundreds of wrongful deaths that happened every year at construction sites in the United States:

• 349 out of 874 total deaths in the construction industry happen due to falls.
• There were a total of 4,679 workers who were killed on the job in the United States in 2014.
• There was an average of about 90 on the job fatalities per week in the United States in 2014.