A sheriff’s office report on the death of a construction worker who fell at a site within the World Equestrian Center in Ocala last week shows that the 29-year-old man fell 40 feet to the ground while moving from one tier of scaffolding to the next.
At around 11:25 a.m. on Monday, November 18, Marion County Fire Rescue units responded to the World Equestrian Center (WEC) located at 8505 NW 17th Lane in reference to an unconscious patient who had experienced a fall.
Within minutes, paramedics made contact with the man and transported him to a local trauma hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The man was later identified by law enforcement as 29-year-old Juan Medina Martinez.
That same day, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to the location of the fall, which occurred at the construction site for WEC’s new hotel. Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with a superintendent.
According to a statement from the superintendent, a worker identified as Martinez was “constructing some scaffolding” on the exterior of the new hotel’s east side.
The superintendent advised that when the fatal fall occurred, Martinez was in the process of “moving from one tier of the scaffolding to the next,” which required him to undo his safety harness.
The report stated that Martinez was on the top tier of the scaffolding, approximately 40 feet above the ground, when a wooden board shifted beneath him. This caused Martinez to fall onto the concrete foundation below.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is currently investigating Martinez’s death.