Probe begins in worker’s fatal fall from apartment building

State occupational safety division officials are investigating the death Wednesday of a construction worker who fell seven stories from a Punchbowl apartment building.

The worker was identified as Louis Martin, 39, of Wahiawa, the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy will be conducted today.

Martin reportedly fell from the Embassy House at 802 Prospect St. at 10:15 a.m., the city Emergency Medical Services Division said.

He was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and later died, EMS said.

Shanna McKenzie, 19, who lives in the building, said Martin fell on the Prospect Street side of Embassy House and landed in a grassy area of the property.

Martin, employed by contractor Color Dynamics Inc., was working with a crew, and his partner quickly ran around the building to inform their boss, she said.

Preliminary information shows Martin’s death was the third construction fatality this year, which is not an unusual number, said William Kunstman, spokes­man for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, which includes the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division.

"There has been a slight downward trend in recent years due to the size of the workforce and type of workforce," Kunstman said.

The construction industry has shrunk, but is now growing steadily at a pace of 6 percent a year, he said.

Jan Kim of Island Realtors, which manages Embassy House, said the apartment building has been undergoing concrete restoration and painting, and is in the final stages of the renovations.

Lanais have been completed, and work is now focused on the penthouse level, which is on the seventh floor, Kim said.

Color Dynamics Inc. was contacted, but no one was available to comment on the incident.

The company quickly notified the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division of their employee’s death, which allowed division investigators to begin review at the scene on Wednesday, Kunstman said. Employers have eight hours to notify the division of a fatal workplace accident.

In an unrelated incident Sunday, a 22-year-old University of Hawaii at Manoa student fell from a 30- to 40-foot cliff near the Hale Aloha dorms. Police said the student went to the hospital in good condition.

No foul play was involved, police said.

Elmer Kaai Jr., UH-Manoa’s interim director of advancement and government affairs, said the student fell from a cliff near a place known as Manoa Walk, between the Gateway House and Frear Hall leading to the Hale Aloha complex. He said the area is fenced off.

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Star-Advertiser Assistant Online Director Craig Gima contributed to this report.