KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – State officials are conducting an investigation into a school construction accident that resulted in a worker’s death last week.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Kelseyville High School, according to Kelseyville Unified Superintendent Dave McQueen.
On that day, an employee of the construction company FRC Inc. was injured while working on the high school’s new shop building. McQueen said the construction worker died of his injuries the following day, on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 24.
Kelseyville Fire Chief Joe Huggins said fire personnel responded to the scene and the injured man was flown out of county. He did not have additional details on the incident.
Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said that agency didn’t handle the coroner’s case, as he believed the man had been flown to Santa Rosa.
Frank Polizzi, spokesman for the Department of Industrial Relations in the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, said the agency is investigating the incident.
“Cal/OSHA was notified of a fatality in Kelseyville on November 1. The report to Cal/OSHA indicated that an apprentice carpenter for FRC Inc. suffered a fall from a scissor lift on October 23 and died on November 1,” Polizzi said.
“Cal/OSHA has opened an inspection to identify the cause of the incident and may issue citations for violations of workplace safety regulations,” he added.
Polizzi said Cal/OSHA has up to six months to issue citations in the case.
So far, it is not clear why the date of the worker’s death was reported to the state as being a week later than the date confirmed by Kelseyville Unified.
Cal/OSHA also did not release the man’s name – Polizzi said the man’s name would appear in Cal/OSHA’s records once the inspection is complete – and calls to the the Windsor-based FRC Inc. were not returned.
However, Jendi Coursey, who has assisted Kelseyville Unified on community outreach on its Measure U bond projects – which include the $3.5 million high school shop building – said she has been helping FRC Inc., and directed Lake County News to a Go Fund Me site for the young man who died.
That Go Fund Me page, started by the man’s family, identified him as Juan Pablo Cuevas Jimenez, a veteran of the United States Marines who leaves behind a wife.
“FRC is in the process of completing all the necessary reviews, while also trying to support the family of the deceased. It’s a heartbreaking situation all the way around,” Coursey said.
As of Friday night, the Go Fund Me page, which was started on Oct. 24 and has a goal of $9,000 to cover the expenses for Cuevas Jimenez’s Nov. 9 funeral in Santa Rosa, had raised $4,875.
McQueen said all students and employees from Kelseyville Unified are safe as they have fencing that keeps personnel and students safely away from bond construction sites.
“This was a real tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased,” McQueen said.
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