HVAC installer Timothy O’Neal Gearing and a co-worker were trying to unjam a saw stuck in a metal roof when the saw jerked loose, causing Gearing to lose his balance and fall through an unguarded skylight. The 39-year-old plunged to the concrete ground 15 feet below and died from his injuries after being transported to a hospital.
OSHA has found that Gearing died because his employer, Martin Mechanical Contractors Inc. of Athens, Georgia, failed to put proper workplace protections in place at the worksite, a new Subaru car dealership in Athens.