Construction Worker Killed

The Coastal Courier reports that "A construction worker was killed and another was hospitalized Friday after they fell about 35 feet from the platform of an extended forklift on Liberty County's Hampton Island. The victim, James Shanks, 46, was from Bluffton, S.C., authorities said. The second worker was identified as Jay Smith, 43, also from Bluffton. He was taken by ambulance to Memorial Health University Medical Center. His medical status was not immediately known.
The construction accident occured shortly before 1:30 p.m. on an exclusive resort island just outside of Riceboro.

Film actor Ben Affleck and his wife, actress Jennifer Garner, own a home in the gated community. Riceboro Fire and Rescue Chief Earl McGinley said the two men fell from a platform that had been raised about 35 feet into the air by a forklift at the site of a home under construction on the island’s Retreat Road. Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brian Barnes said Shanks was pronounced dead at the scene.

Barnes said four men working for Sailer Stone & Stucco LP of Bluffton were applying stucco to a chimney while standing on the elevated platform.
As the four were being lowered, other workers in the area said they heard a popping sound, and the forklift jerked, throwing two of the men off.
Work at the construction site was halted immediately and was not expected to resume until at least Tuesday, Barnes said.

Authorities at the site said they did not know what kind of safety record Sailer Stone & Stucco LP has."