2 workers who fell from scaffolding at construction site not tethered. What are the safety requirements? [Video]

CHICAGO — An ironworker and a technical engineer who fell from scaffolding last week at a hospital construction site were reportedly not harnessed or tethered to the structure.

However, that safety measure isn’t required.

As long as scaffolding is installed correctly, industry standards don’t require restraints on the type from which David O’Donnell and Jeffrey Spyrka fell.

O’Donnell, 27, died from the fall. Spyrka, a 36-year-old father of three, was critically injured.

If a company or contractor wanted to add a failsafe by tethering or harnessing someone, it adds additional bureaucracy and money to meet Occupational Safety & Health Administration requirements.

OSHA requires an anchor point of a harness to withstand 5,000 pounds. That project then has to be designed by a building architect and engineer. A company then would have to pay for the installation of that anchor point and the removal of it at each level of the building’s construction.

A lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Spyrka against two of the four firms connected to the …