Construction worker dies in fall

FARGO (AP) — A construction worker fell from a roof down an incomplete elevator shaft to his death at a Fargo building site early Thursday, police said.

Timothy Solberg, 37, of Fargo, was found dead about 7 a.m., at the site of a building under construction at the Microsoft campus in southwest Fargo.

Solberg was working alone on the roof of the building when he fell about four stories down the elevator shaft, which was supposed to have been covered, Police Sgt. Jeff Skuza said. Work at the site was suspended for the day.

“We don’t have any indication that anyone else was with him on the roof,” Skuza said. “There was a cover that was supposed to be covering the elevator shaft. It wasn’t on there when the officer inspected it.”

Solberg was an employee of MJ Dalsin Roofing Contractors, which was working as a subcontractor for JE Dunn, a construction company from Eden Prairie, Minn., Skuza said.

“Safety is the No. 1 priority for JE Dunn,” said Brett Dunlap, an onsite project manager. “We are extremely saddened by the loss.”

It marks the sixth North Dakota death this year from injuries suffered while on the job, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.

Bruce Beelman, an area director for OSHA in Bismarck, told The Forum that Michael J. Dalsin is listed in OSHA documents as the head of roofing operations in North Dakota and South Dakota that have a record safety violations in several years. Beelman said most of the cases involve inadequate fall protection at work sites, including earlier this spring in Ellendale. Dalsin could not be reached for comment.

Tags: osha, fall, fargo, construction