OSHA investigating accident at Good Samaritan

By Brian Slodysko

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating what caused Wednesday's accident at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove in which two workers were injured when a piece of equipment weighing at least 3,000 pounds came crashing down on them.

It is unknown when the investigation will be concluded or what the preliminary findings may be at this time, Kathy Webb, an OSHA area director based out of Aurora, said Friday.

Webb said an investigator was at the hospital on Thursday looking into the cause of the heavy equipment fall.

"We have a six-month statute of limitations on any investigation, but typically they don't take that long" to complete, Webb said.

Advocate Good Samaritan spokeswoman Jennifer Dooley said the hospital does not yet know what caused the accident, which occurred in a narrow maintenance corridor, but that information would "come out in due time."

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The hospital will implement any recommendations made by OSHA, Dooley aid.

The most severely injured of the two workers was still in fair condition at the hospital, she said. The other worker was treated and released after the accident. The hospital has declined to release the names of the two men, citing privacy concerns.

Both of the injured men were authorized to be in the corridor and were performing tasks related to their job at the time of the accident, she said.

According to Webb, Advocate Good Samaritan has two previous OSHA violations on record — one in 2002 and another dating back to 1993.

In 2002, Webb said, inspectors found there was either a blocked door or walkway, but her records weren't specific. She said the hospital was not fined.

In 1993, the hospital racked up five violations, including one in which inspectors found workers had been exposed to patients who potentially had tuberculosis and were not given an adequate number of respirators to protect themselves, Webb said.