Florida Man Killed In Work Accident
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A Florida man was killed Monday afternoon when an attachment on a Geoprobe boring rig came in contact with an overhead power line, electrocuting him. The scene was roped off as OSHA investigators were expected to investigate Tuesday.
OAKLAND – A 25-year-old construction worker from Florida was killed Monday afternoon in a tragic work accident in the parking lot of the Marathon station in Oakland. Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark reported Eric Godfrey was electrocuted after an attachment on a Geoprobe boring rig came in contact with an overhead power line.
Stark said reports from the scene indicate that Godfrey was positioning a metal pipe under the machine’s outrigger to keep from damaging the concrete in the parking lot when the accident occurred. The machine operator, a life-long friend of Godfrey, was also shocked but not injured.
The accident was reported at 3:16 p.m. and Stark said co-workers immediately started CPR. An ambulance was dispatched from Coffeeville, and deputies and firefighters also responded to assist.
“The fire department was on the scene within minutes and continued CPR until the ambulance arrived. Efforts then continued to revive him for almost 50 minutes inside the ambulance,” Stark said. “They did everything possible.”
Stark also said a medevac helicopter responded. Stark was dispatched at 4:23 after life-saving efforts were exhausted.
Stark, who has served as the county’s coroner for over two decades, said this fatality is the first from an industrial accident during his tenure. Deputies secured the scene Monday and officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were expected to conduct an incident investigation Tuesday.
Stark said the victim is from Jay, Fla., a city located in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola. Family members were traveling to Yalobusha County Tuesday to meet with Stark.
