This is a developing story.
A construction worker was killed in a fall from a crane at a construction site in the Windsor Park neighborhood of Austin, TX, on June 17. The site’s building permits are under Austin-based Journeyman Group, a developer with a history of serious worksite safety violations according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) records.
A worker at a nearby office told The Worker that she heard cries for help from outside her window around 10:30AM. She says she saw the worker trying to hold onto a crane, but he was unable to maintain his grip.
Austin EMS report that upon arrival they began advanced life resuscitation efforts as the worker was undergoing cardiac arrest on the roof of the unfinished building. They stopped resuscitation efforts on the advice of the medical director and switched to providing end of life care as they focused on moving the worker from the roof to transport him to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased on arrival.
The day after his death, the job site was shut down. An employee at the site said the fallen worker was part of a subcontractor team. As of publication, the company has not responded to email inquiries regarding the incident.
A construction equipment delivery driver who arrived to the empty job site Thursday (06/18) said that no one informed his company about the death.
OSHA has cited the Journeyman Group for serious violations in two separate cases, most recently in 2021 and before in 2017.
In 2021, OSHA cited the company for violations at the development of their own offices in Austin. OSHA states, “three workers were on the roof of a new construction…with no fall protection in use.” Journeyman reached an informal settlement with OSHA and were fined $1,492.
In 2017, there were five serious violations at a work site in Pflugerville, TX, which included scaffolds that were, “not designed by a qualified person,” and “were not inspected for visible defects by a competent person before each work shift.” The company was issued a total fine of $10,140.
Austin city government recently awarded the Journeyman Group $8 million to construct “affordable housing,” according to an April 9, 2026 city press release.
Texas’s number of worker killings involving cranes was higher than the next three states combined from 2011 to 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas also has the highest rate of construction-related worker deaths and injuries in the country, which does not include those incidents which are not reported to federal authorities. The most common OSHA citations nationwide are for inadequate fall protections, driven by the capitalists’ rushed deadlines and negligence with safety practices in pursuit of greater profits at the expense of workers’ lives.
Please contact The Worker with any further information regarding this incident at TheWorkerPaper@proton.me
Image: The crane at the job site where the worker fell, June 18, 2026. Credit: The Worker.
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