Construction worker dies at site of new student center
47 year old Michael Perschitti of Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal fell from the roof of the Student Center construction site on Friday, January 13, 2017 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Addison Coffey | Staff.
January 13, 2017
A worker died Friday, Jan. 14 after falling around 30 feet from a structure on the UK Student Center construction site on Avenue of Champions.
The victim, Michael Perschitti, 47, from West Virginia, was immediately transported to Albert B. Chandler Hospital where he soon passed away, police officials said.
The victims body fell and landed within the construction site. “There were several other individuals on the roof who were unloading some materials and he fell,” UK Police Chief Joe Monroe said.
Perschitti was apparently not secured on the structure by a harness at the time of the incident, but the exact details of the fall are continuing to be investigated. “All indications point to that there were no harnesses involved,” Chief Monroe said.
Police officials say OSHA has been notified and will soon conduct an investigation into the incident.
Perschitti was employed by Kalkreuth Roofing and Sheet Metal of Lexington, which is affiliated with Messer Construction of Lexington.
Chief Monroe described the incident as “an unfortunate accident.” Officials suspect there was no foul play involved, but the investigation is ongoing.
The construction site was inactive the remainder of last week, but reopened and resumed work on Monday, according to UK Spokeswoman Kathy Johnson.
Messer Construction released a formal statement saying, “The University of Kentucky Student Center site has been released back to the university to resume construction activity. Crews returned to work on Monday, Jan. 16. Investigations into the accident remain ongoing and have the full support and cooperation of all parties. Safety remains the top priority.”