Worker Recovering After Impaling Accident In Milpitas

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health is investigating a fall that left a construction worker injured in the east Milpitas hills last week, an agency spokeswoman said today.

The 27-year-old man fell while walking on a platform catwalk and was impaled by a fence post shortly before 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Cal/OSHA spokeswoman Paola Laverde said.

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Emergency crews responded to the construction site about 1 mile east of 10000 London Drive, where construction crews were apparently working on a water tank, Milpitas fire spokesman Sean Simonson said. Crews arrived to find the man had already been removed from the fence, Simonson said.

He was airlifted from the scene and taken to Stanford Medical Center, according to Simonson. The man suffered internal injuries and underwent surgery for nine hours, Laverde said. Medical personnel initially believed he would not survive past the first night, but he is still alive and receiving treatment, according to Laverde. He is employed by Trench Safe, a directional drilling company, Laverde said.

Cal/OSHA has six months to reach a conclusion on the incident, according to Laverde.

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