PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A storm pipe cleaning, maintenance employer could have prevented the death of a 24-year-old worker at a worksite last year in Port St. Lucie, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
Port St. Lucie police said Austin Falcon-Rodriguez, of Port St. Lucie, was performing maintenance in an underground drainage pipe at the intersection of Southwest Becker Road and Southwest Village Parkway, back on July 8, 2024, when he was "suddenly pushed out of the pipe from below ground, through the opened roadway grate, and came to rest on the roadway."
Southeast Services of the Treasure Coast failed to identify a pressurized plug as a hazard, according to a news release by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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An investigation by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revealed that during the process of performing maintenance, the pipe’s pressurized plug "became over-inflated, causing an explosion so powerful that it ejected one worker 15 feet from the storm drain, resulting in fatal injuries."
Falcon-Rodriguez's body was found in the middle of the road by first responders. Police said the victim’s father was also working on the same jobsite that day.
OSHA cited the Vero Beach-based employer for a serious violation for failing to develop and implement procedures and train workers on how to install and remove pneumatic pipe plugs safely, according to the news release.
The department said OSHA has assessed Southeast Services of the Treasure Coast $16,131 in proposed penalties.
PSLPD Investigating Industrial Accident Resulting in a Death
— Port St. Lucie PD (@PSLPolice) July 8, 2024
At about 11:00 am, PSLPD and St. Lucie County Fire District responded to an industrial accident on SW Becker Rd. between SW Village Pkwy. and Range Line Rd.
Preliminary investigation revealed that an adult male was… pic.twitter.com/nniAHJU7TW
