Cherry picker tragedy
THE steel fixer who died in a “freak accident” involving a cherry picker in the city’s north yesterday was just doing his job, a worker said.
A close friend of the 22year-old told the Bulletin: “It was a freak accident. He was going about his usual job and screwing nuts and bolts from the cherry picker (into a steel shed) but somehow it counterbalanced and catapulted him up into the structure. They had to bring the cherry picker down to get him out”.
The man, who police have not named, suffered serious chest injuries at the Link Dr construction site, Yatala, about 10am.
Fellow workers did CPR on the man but he could not be saved.
“I’m a plumbing supervisor and (name withheld) is a steel fixer and I’ve been working with him for four months,” the friend said. “He was one of the boys.”
The man was described as a “happy guy” who “never had any dramas”.
The site was closed after the incident. A Workplace Health and Safety spokesman said an officer was investigating.
The man was employed by Steel Fabrications as a subcontractor to help with the construction of a shed.
Union workers on the Spectrapave site said they felt helpless for the man. “It’s not easy to deal with. Mate, you don’t expect that to happen,” the CFMEU member said.