State Investigates Why Worker Fell At Franklin Park Apartments

Officials did not inform Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) that a contractor , according to MOSH Assistant Commissioner Eric Uttenreither. The worker had to be airlifted to a medical center.

For lack of notification, nearly two weeks lapsed before MOSH opened an investigation. It was in an interview with Greenbelt Patch Friday in which he first heard the news, according to Uttenreither.

MOSH was in Greenbelt Tuesday and questioned those on the job site, Uttenreither said. On Wednesday or Thursday, Uttenreither said MOSH hopes to talk with the injured man, who had complained following the injury of not having feeling in one of his legs, according to the Prince George's County Fire Department.

The contractor was released from the hospital the next day and is home, Uttenreither said. His employer told MOSH that the man should return to work by the beginning of next week, Uttenreither said.

The injured man was not a Franklin Park Apartments employee but was working for a contractor that is individually licensed and insured, according to Franklin Park General Manager Lesley Luckhardt. He was working on a sprinkler system in the apartment complex's laundry facility when he fell, she said.

Although the incident occurred July 17, no authority reported it to MOSH, Uttenreither said. Typically, out of professional courtesy, emergency services will report workplace injuries, although there is no requirement by law.

Uttenreither said he could not discuss the reasons the man fell.