Falling tape measure kills construction worker in N.J.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - A man delivering sheet rock to a construction site was killed Monday when a tape measure fell 50 stories and hit him on the head, authorities said.
A spokeswoman for Jersey City's department of public safety said the accident occurred shortly before 9 a.m. in the city's downtown area.
The 1-pound tape measure became dislodged from the belt of a worker on the 50th floor and struck construction equipment about 10 to 15 feet from the ground, spokeswoman Carly Baldwin said. It then ricocheted and struck 58-year-old Gary Anderson, who had just stopped to speak with another worker who was in a pickup truck.
Anderson, of Somerdale in southern New Jersey, was taken to a hospital, where he died shortly before 10 a.m.
Anderson wasn't wearing a hard hat but had one in his truck at the time, according to the police report.
A police report listed Anderson as working for Charlotte, North Carolina-based National Gypsum. A spokeswoman for the company said he was delivering National Gypsum's product at the time of the accident but was employed by an independent trucking company.
Officials said two 50-story residential towers and an attached hotel are being built at the site of the accident.
Let's be careful out there...
That's very unfortunate... Definitely highlights the importance of safety gear, though. It's not just heavy equipment or falling bricks that can kill you.
My heart goes out to his family. Tragic freak accident.
It is an unfortunate accident.
My guess is that even if he'd been wearing his hard hat, he'd be severely hurt or would have died. Typical hard hats only protect from falling objects, ie. top down, no lateral protection.
From the article, the tape ricocheted and struct the man. I would assume that it was a lateral blow.
I'm only speculating but it is a safe assumption.
As always, do not walk under a live load.
I wonder what the terminal velocity is for a 1 lb tape measure?
Came up with 287 ft./sec.
Your standard hard hat would provide little in the way of protection. Wrong place, wrong time. Very sad.
That's 195.68 miles per hour. Pretty fast
Let's be careful out there...
That's the very reason we provide tool lanyards.
Andy
1,281 foot-pounds of energy, or about 20% more than a .44 Magnum at the muzzle.
force = mass x velocity squared.
Kinetic energy = 1/2 * M * V^2
Force is indeterminate here. Force in stopping a moving object depends on the time and distance over which it meets the resistance.
Air resistance might slow it down a little from the theoretical calculation, but not a lot for a compact object.
