NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Members of the group Workers’ Dignity say they’re demanding contractors take more responsibility for the death of Gustavo Enrique Ramirez.
The group held a vigil at the construction site Wednesday night to remember Gustavo and share years of frustrations over what they say is the little regard for safety they’ve seen at multiple construction sites.
Family and friends say with the little oversight they’ve seen, they worry what happened to Gustavo will not be the last tragedy of its kind.
Metro Nashville Police officials say Gustavo was working with his 18-year-old brother when he fell more than 120 feet to his untimely death.
Both brothers were on the side of the La Quinta Inn building facing the interstate at the time. No foul play is believed to be involved.
At the time, Gustavo was reportedly part of a cleaning crew that picked up after workers from each floor. It was explained to members of Workers’ Dignity that the lift operating at the time, had an open space where Gustavo fell through.
Dennis Gregory, President of DF Chase Inc. construction issued this statement:
“All of us at D.F. Chase, Inc. are deeply saddened over the death of Gustavo Enrique Ramirez. Our hearts go out to his family. At this time, we understand this to be an isolated and tragic event, and the first fatality we have experienced in our 33 years of doing business. We are doing all we can to support TOSHA and his employer in their investigation to understand what went wrong. While TOSHA approved work to resume at the site, we are temporarily stopping work as everyone processes this tragedy.”
Police officials say he was not wearing a safety harness at the time of his fall. According to the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), employees are not required to wear harnesses when working on scaffolding with attached guardrails.
They’ve launched their own investigation, along with the Tennessee Department of Labor Standards.
They say while 16-year-olds are permitted to work construction jobs, some jobs on a construction site may be prohibited. They’re investigating to see if Gustavo may have been doing a job he wasn’t permitted to do.
TOSHA says they are still working to confirm who employed Gustavo, although we’ve heard he may have been hired by Cortez Plastering. A subcontractor with DF Chase.
Cecilia Prado is one of the co-organizers of Workers’ Dignity and one of the only people to speak directly to Gustavo’s family earlier in the day. She says the family was devastated when they had to hear much of the details about what happened on the news.
Making matters worse is this is what Prado and others in the group say they’ve warned about for years. They’ve watched workplace injuries disregarded as workers say they’re being intimidated to not report their concerns. If someone brings up a safety issue, Prado says they’re threatened with being fired or having their legal status investigated.
Prado says enough is enough and calls on all construction companies to take ownership of who they’re hiring to complete the work.
“There is a culture of a lack of accountability here in Nashville. You have construction companies at the top and everyone else working at the bottom,” said Prado.
As Nashville continues to grow, construction sites are popping up in every corner of the city. Prado says if nothing is done to raise awareness for the dangerous working conditions on some of these sites, Gustavo will certainly not be the last.
