Two years after a contract worker fell to his death, Kosmos Cement, a Cemex company, is facing federal charges for negligence, reported WHAS11.
The charges, filed on March 25, said that Kosmos Cement “willfully violated safety standards by not correcting a defect on a piece of equipment on the Old Finish Mill elevator.”
Felipe Mata Vizcaya was riding in an elevator Feb. 21, 2014, to the 4th floor of the mill at the Kosmos Cement Louisville, Ky., plant. According to the Department of Labor report filed in August 2014, Mata Vizcaya was looking for a bucket.
Once he found what he was looking for, he opened the 4th floor hoist way landing door and stepped off, falling 51 ft., hitting the top of an elevator car on the ground floor.
He died roughly 90 minutes later when rescue workers could not get him stabilized.
A MSHA report said the company knew the doors were defective and needed to be fixed since October 2011. The doors were so worn, WHAS11 previously reported, they could be opened when the elevator car was on another floor.
