Three workers sent to hospital after lift topples over

DOWNTOWN — Three construction workers suffered serious injuries Monday morning after the hydraulic lift they were on fell as they cleared debris from planter boxes outside the Glendale Galleria, officials said.
The Metro Commercial Construction Inc. workers, whose names were not released, were taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Glendale Fire Capt. Vincent Rifino said.

Two of the men were in critical condition Monday after falling at least 20 feet, and the other was in serious condition, Rifino said.

Firefighters responded about 8:27 a.m. to a call that the men were seen lying on Broadway between Orange Street and Brand Boulevard, Rifino said.

The three workers were on the hydraulic scissor lift removing dirt and debris inside a second-floor planter box at the Glendale Galleria, he said.

They were shoveling debris out of the planter into a trash bin to lighten its load and eventually remove it, said Krisann Chasarik, a spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

But the planter box shifted and struck the scissor lift, she said.

One of the men jumped off the lift platform and landed on the ground, while the other two hung on, Chasarik said.

The lift was on the Broadway sidewalk near the wheelchair ramp when it became unstable and buckled over, landing on the middle of the street, Rifino said.
The planter box also collapsed with the lift, he said.

The maximum capacity of the scissor lift was two people, or a total weight of 500 pounds, he said.
Cal/OSHA investigators inspected the scene on Broadway throughout Monday, which was closed to traffic for most of the day.

Glendale Galleria officials often subcontracted with the Pasadena-based construction company for help with maintenance work on the building, said Linda Frost, the mall’s acting general manager.

“Any time anything happens, especially not something that we want to happen, we are concerned about it,” she said.

Representatives for Metro Commercial Construction could not be reached for comment.