WI Construction Employee Kills Coworker with Circular Saw

River Falls, WI (Workerscompensation.com) - One man is behind bars today after fatally attacking his coworker with a circular saw on a job site, police said Tuesday. 

Maguel A. Nabarro, 24, of St. Louis, MO, was charged with first degree homicide after the Pierce County Sheriff’s office was called to the scene of an attack at a construction job site in Western Wisconsin. Officers found roofer Israel Valles-Flores with severe lacerations to his face and neck, allegedly made by Nabarro with a circular saw. Valles-Flores was later declared dead at the scene.

Pierce County Sheriff Nancy Hove did not return WorkersCompensation.com calls for comment by press time.

Nabarro was released on bond from the Pierce County Jail on Tuesday, according to Pierce County Jail records.

Violence in the workplace is the second-most leading cause of death in the US, according to information on workplace fatalities released in December 2017 by the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The leading cause of death in the workplace is transportation accidents.

Between 2015 and 2016, workplace violence as a cause of death on the job rose by 7 percent. Statistics show that men are 12 times more likely die on the job, but that women are more than twice as likely to die because of violence or injuries inflicted by humans or animals as men. Additionally, Asians or Asian Americans are three times more likely to die because of workplace violence than any other race or ethnicity.

Workplace violence rose from 703 deaths, including 500 homicides, in 2015, to 866 deaths in 2016. Shootings continue to be one of the largest causes for workplace deaths. In 2015, 354 people died because of gun violence at work, an increase in 15 percent over 2014, according to OSHA. 

The National Safety Council said finding ways to stop deaths in the workplace of any kind should be a national goal.

“At the National Safety Council, we believe we can eliminate preventable deaths in our lifetime,” Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of NSC, said in a statement. “Preventable deaths are tragedies because they should not have happened. Committing to eliminating all preventable workplace deaths may seem like a daunting task, but when you think of the 5,190 families and communities that carry the loss of loved ones for a lifetime, it is the only acceptable goal.”

Lisa Martin, Director of Strategic Communications for Laborer’s International Union of North America, a union representing construction workers, did not return calls for comment by press time.

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