OSHA: FAA worker rigged stool, fell to his death at PBIA

Directly from the Palm Beach Post Staff Writer www.bit.ly/QDvts

A Federal Aviation Administration worker died in May at Palm Beach International Airport because he jury-rigged a stool to remove a light fixture, then tumbled over a rail and fell three stories, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded.

No OSHA rules were violated, the agency said in a report dated Monday. But it recommended the FAA "establish a system whereby hazard assessment(s) must be performed prior to engaging in activities" such as the one that led to Ismael Octtaviani-Mercado's death.

According to the OSHA report and reports by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Octtaviani-Mercado, 59, of West Palm Beach, fell 31 feet on May 29. He worked for the FAA's local technical operations department. He apparently had positioned a foot stool to reach a lighting fixture, which placed him higher than the top rail.

Investigators said Octtaviani-Mercado then lost his footing and went over the rail. Octtaviani-Mercado was working on an air surveillance radar tower that had been decommissioned since it was heavily damaged by the 2004 hurricanes. He was conducting monthly maintenance on portable generators stored at the foot of the tower for use during hurricane season. FAA supervisors said Octtaviani-Mercado had been assigned to run the generators for about 10 minutes.

He then decided on his own to go to the third level with his tools to salvage light fixtures for use on an active tower in the Loxahatchee area that had been damaged by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. The fixtures are expensive and it's common for them to be "cannibalized" for use elsewhere, the reports said.

FAA co-workers told OSHA investigators Octtaviani-Mercado had never done such work in the past and was working alone. The supervisor said he'd told only one other co-worker his plans.

In a separate letter to Gonzalez, who's an administrative assistant at the same FAA office, OSHA said a similar incident could leave the FAA subject to enforcement under a federal "general duty" clause.

OSHA does not fine other federal agencies, including the FAA, but can order them to correct violations.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said today from Atlanta that the agency had not yet received the OSHA report. She said the FAA has an existing three-day training program in preventing falls and plans to enhance it later this year.

Just an opinion: Whether or not the FAA is a federal agency, they should have provided the worker with proper equipment to remove the light fixture. Any type of worker death is completely unacceptable. It is unbelievable to me that OSHA doesn't fine other federal agencies.