Workers Killed by Fall on Fence, Falling Steel, Falling Object at Radio Tower

Safety at Work

Canoga Park, CA (WorkersCompensation.com) – A 44-year-old man died after being impaled on a fence while he trimmed a palm tree in California.

The tree trimmer was one of several workers killed on the job in incidents across the country this past week.

Police in Canoga Park, Cal., said they were called to the 7400 block of Canoga Avenue on Dec. 1 around 3:20 p.m. According to police, the man was impaled by an iron fence after he fell. Fire officials said the tree trimmer fell 35 feet onto a 10-foot-high iron fence. The worker was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified the worker as Rogelio Cruz. Cruz had decades of experience working as a tree trimmer and worked for a company owned by his family.

According to his family, Cruz’s rope allegedly detached from the tree he was working on. Richard Areloa, Cruz’s cousin, told KNBC that the family is “still trying to cope” with the sudden loss.

"Every day routine — goes up, does the job, cuts it down, comes back down, goes home, and it just wasn’t like that today," Areloa said.

On Thursday in New Jersey, a worker was killed at a radio tower on the Jersey Shore, and two others had to be rescued, officials said.

According to the Atlantic City Public Safety Office investigators had to be called to the radio tower in the Venice Park neighborhood. When they arrived, they found one worker dead and two others in need of assistance.

The three men were working about 300 feet up on the 425-foot structure when something fell. It was not immediately clear what kind of work the men were doing, or what fell.

However, something fell and hit one of the workers, knocking him unconscious. The three men remained trapped on the tower. Officials said the two other workers took turns performing CPR on the man who had fallen, but he could not be revived.

All three of the men were taken down from the tower. The other two men refused medical attention. It was not clear what private company the men worked for.

In Napierville, Ill., a worker removing snow was killed when he was hit by a freight train.

The contractor was removing snow from the tracks on Dec. 1, officials said, when he was struck by a BNSF freight train, heading eastbound. The train hit the snow removal equipment operated by the man as he worked on the station’s south platform.

Officials said the man died from his injuries. The collision disrupted Metra BNSF inbound and outbound trains on Monday evening.

The city extended its sympathies to the worker and his family.

"This is a profound tragedy, and on behalf of the City of Naperville, I extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” the city manager said. “Our employees and contractors deliver vital services to the community daily, and their safety is of paramount importance to us. The loss of life in this manner is heartbreaking… The City is committed to supporting our staff through this challenging period and will cooperate fully with the Metra Police Department's ongoing investigation into this incident."

In Fresno, Cal., a worker was killed by falling steel.

Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said a 29-year-old man was killed Dec. 1 while he was working on an oil rig. Officers were called to a field near Mt. Whitney and Polk Avenue. When deputies and EMS personnel arrived, they found the worker dead from major trauma injuries.

According to the Sheriff’s office, the man was killed when a large piece of steel from an oil rig swung down and crushed him. He was part of a crew working to remove the oil rig from a property in Riverdale, authorities said, when a large piece of steel came off of the structure and hit him.

Cal/OSHA was notified of the incident, officials said and will be investigating.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 200 workplace fatalities each year in the U.S. due to falling objects. In 2022, there were 238 worker deaths due to falling objects, or about 5 percent of all fatal occupational injuries. Falling objects also cause tens of thousands of workplace injuries per year, according to the BLS.

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