ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
MEMO: Shorter in Metro
STATE SAFETY OFFICIALS found no fault in the death of a 27-year-old worker who fell to his death at Cassell Coliseum.
The state has cleared two companies of fault in connection with the death of a construction worker who fell 90 feet to the floor of Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum in June.
A third company involved in the case has not yet received word from the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement office of the Department of Labor and Industry.
Dewey Wayne Duncan, 27, of Pulaski died June 27 when he fell through an area of the coliseum roof that was under repair. He wasn't wearing a safety device called a lanyard to secure himself to safety ropes that traversed the coliseum's roof.
Allen R. Neely Co. Inc. of Pearisburg was the general contractor on the project. Duncan was employed by a subcontractor, AAR of North Carolina, which hired him through a company that provides temporary workers.
Investigators from the occupational safety office in Roanoke cleared both AAR and the Neely company of any fault in the accident.
A Dec. 19 letter to Allen Neely stated, "This inspection did not reveal any conditions which we consider to be violation of the law."
A spokesman for AAR said his office received a similar letter in mid-December.
AAR hired Duncan through Southern Personnel Services Inc., which has an office in Pulaski. A spokesman from that company's headquarters in Cayce, S.C., said his company had not heard from the state.
The state official who investigated the case was out of town and could not be reached for comment Monday.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB