Federal Officials Investigating Death Of Man Who Fell 6 Stories At Tulsa Work Site

Federal investigators are looking into the death of a construction worker who fell six stories and died at a downtown Tulsa work site.

Friday, April 16th 2021, 9:12 pm

By: Grant Stephens

TULSA, Oklahoma -

Federal investigators are looking into the death of a construction worker who fell six stories and died at a downtown Tulsa work site.

52-year-old Abel Garcia died Friday after police said he slipped through wooden scaffolding eleven stories up and fell five floors.

Garcia worked for a subcontractor, hired by Flintco, the company in charge of building the 11-story WPX building. After the accident, the company shut the site down for the day and sent crews home.

Flintco's Vice-President of Human Relations Tony DeStefano said company support extends from family to Garcia's coworkers.

"Our priority right now is trying to support the family in any way we can," DeStefano said. "Beyond trying to help support the families and the individuals involved in the incident, we're also trying to support the local authorities as they work through their investigation into what happened and how it happened."

OSHA has already opened an investigation, taking over from the Tulsa Police Department, who said Garcia was not wearing a harness when he fell.

DeStefano said accidents like these are extremely rare.

He said just this month, Flintco passed 10 million workhours without a serious accident.

"Today's event is a stark reminder of how dangerous construction work can be and how it's something that we've got to continue to be diligent on," he said.

OSHA will be back to the site next week to start interviewing workers who saw the fall.