Construction worker dies in accident at University of Hawaii athletics complex

The Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating the death of a 30-year-old construction worker killed in an accident after metal equipment fell on him near the baseball field of the Clarence T.C. Athletics Complex at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The accident occurred in a lot next to the Hawaii Eng­lish Language Program portable building in the lower campus, makai of the baseball field, sometime before 7:25 p.m. Thursday.

The worker from Great Britain was part of a crew employed by Roder, a company based in Germany. The work crew recently arrived in Hawaii to build 15 hospitality suites for the $8.3 million retrofit expansion project at the athletic complex.

UH suspended construction this weekend due to the accident.

The Honolulu Police Department said construction workers were unloading metal parts wrapped in plastic from a Matson container. The material — weighing about 5,000 pounds — and a pallet jack were pushed to the open end of the container when the material went over the edge and fell on the worker.

A bystander who declined to give her name said she was riding her bicycle in the area when she heard crash sounds and someone scream. When she approached the accident scene, she observed two workers trying to help the man. “They were trying to pull him out,” said the woman Friday in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

The bystander who called 911 also saw another worker use a forklift to remove the metal equipment off of his co-worker.

Lifesaving measures were conducted unsuccessfully. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances. The accident has been classified as an unattended death case.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release the man’s name.

Yellow police tape surrounded the scene of the accident Friday morning as the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations’ Occupational Safety and Health Division investigated.

In a statement, UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said, “This is a terrible tragedy. The University of Hawaii offers its deepest condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of the victim. We stand with you in your grief. UH is committed to doing everything we can to assist in the investigation of this devastating event.”

The retrofit expansion project is underway after Aloha Stadium officials announced in December that spectator-attended events would not be allowed for the next three years due to structural concerns at the Halawa facility. The university is expanding the athletic complex’s seat capacity to 9,000 seats from about 3,500 seats. The project also includes new hospitality suites and press boxes.

UH plans to use Ching Field for Rainbow Warrior home football games starting this season and until a new stadium is built.