OSHA probes ironworker's fatal fall
Federal officials are looking into the death of a 38-year-old ironworker who fell five stories yesterday while working on the centerpiece of development in Roxbury -- the Crosstown Center project.
A union official identified the iron worker as Edward Long of Bedford. Michael Durant, business manager for Ironworkers Local 7, said Long was working for his family's company, Prime Steel Erecting of Billerica.
Long was a third-generation iron worker whose family's company has employed thousands of iron workers over the years, Durant said. The family declined to comment yesterday evening.
"This is a special kid," Durant said of Long. "They are a very special family, and they are torn apart by this. It's a very tragic loss. It's really a sad thing when you see a whole family of ironworkers gathering around the loss of a young kid."
Kirk Sykes, developer of the hotel, parking garage , and office building project at the intersections of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, called it a " sad day. . . . Our sympathies are with the family."
Public and private officials said that when Long fell, he was working on the Hampden Street side on the fifth floor of the parking garage, which is being expanded as part of the $75 million development. The hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites, is open, and the remainder of the project is expected to be completed this fall, said Sykes.
Officials would not describe how the accident took place. Police said Long fell at about 10:27 a.m. He was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center, officials said.
John E. Morelli, safety director for the general contractor, Corcoran Jennison , said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.
Morelli said the two subcontractors directly involved in the work underway at the time were Linbeck Construction and Prime Steel. Officials at Prime Steel could not be reached for comment. Officials at Linbeck, which is based in Houston and has an office in Lexington, declined to comment.
OSHA investigators were on the site yesterday, but a final report is not expected for several months, an agency spokesman said. Morelli said OSHA is allowing the companies to resume construction immediately because it found no safety violations.
John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. 
