Injured worker to leave hospital

David Mullen, one of two construction workers who fell four stories in a construction accident two weeks ago, said yesterday he will probably leave the hospital and return to his home in Philadelphia within the next few days. Mullen, who had the lower part of one leg amputated after the accident at the Biomedical Research Building construction site, said he should be able to return to work in six to eight weeks. "It could've been a lot worse -- a lot worse," Mullen said. "But there's really not much to say about [the accident]. I went through the flooring of four floors and landed in wet concrete." He said that although he will probably be released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he still has a cracked pelvis which will take another six weeks to heal. Mullen said the other worker involved in the accident, Blaine Lawford, returned to North Carolina, where he lives. "He had a lot more [treatment] left, but they flew him down to North Carolina," Mullen said. "There's a treatment center closeby where he'll get care." The accident occured around 11:30 a.m. on November 19 when the workers used a crane to lift a bundle of steel beams up to the fifth floor of the site. Arthur Gravina, vice president of facilities management, said last week he believes the bundle, which was bound by metal straps, hit the side of the building, causing one of the straps to snap. The bundle then became loose and the beams fell down through the structure. He added that he thinks the construction workers "rode down" with the falling material. Gravina said last week that the University does not get involved with what happens "inside the metal gates" of a construction site and the contractors are responsible for any accidents or mishaps. Work has resumed at the construction site, located between Blockley Hall and the Nursing Education Building on the southern edge of campus.

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