Safety harness catches I-4 Ultimate worker, crane operator saves him

ORLANDO, Fla. - A construction worker is recovering after a scary slip from above on the I-4 Ultimate Project.  

The project's contractor, SGL, tells FOX 35 News that one of their subcontractors lost his footing on a bridge deck over Lake Ivanhoe. His safety harness caught him, and a co-worker called 911 for help.  

“The reports were a worker that was dangling from one of the overpasses at the construction site,” said Orlando Fire Department District Chief Bryan Davis.  “He was about 35 feet up and for some reason, his footing gave way beneath him and he fell.  The fall harness actually stopped him about 6 feet after he fell off the ledge.”

The incident happened around 1 p.m. on Thursday.  Orlando firefighters were on the scene in under four minutes. District Chief Davis says a big part of the rescue was done before they got there, that a crane operator hopped off his rig to help.  

“Crane operator jumped into action. He and another construction worker commandeered a small little construction barge. They were able to get underneath the individual, lift him up, disentangle him from the harness and lower him down onto the barge,” David explained. 

Those men got him to shore so firefighters could take over.  

“He was bumped up and bruised probably.  Any time you fall like that with that fall arrestor on it’s still going to jolt the body and it was reported by the other constructions that when he fell, he actually fell up underneath striking the pylon and the features of the bridge up underneath,” Davis said. 

The worker was taken to Orlando Health for observation.