FAYETTEVILLE — The federal investigation into the death of a construction worker on the University of Arkansas’ future Football Operations Center will focus on the subcontractor that employed him, a spokesman for the agency said Wednesday.
Symmetry Turf Installations of Mount Pleasant, Texas, was performing work for subcontractor Shaw Sportexe of Kennesaw, Ga., which is a subcontractor for Flintco Constructive Solutions.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration has launched an investigation of Symmetry Turf Installations related to the circumstances of the death, said Elizabeth Todd, a Dallas-based spokesman for the agency.
“We will not be investigating Flintco,” Todd said. “We only investigate the company that the employee was working for.”
On Monday, an employee of Symmetry Turf Installations died at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.
The 39-year-old man was rushed to the hospital by coworkers at noon Sunday after showing signs of overheating, Washington County Coroner Roger Morris said.
Morris has not revealed the man’s name and did not return a message requestingthat information on Wednesday.
Symmetry Turf Installations met OSHA’s criteria for reporting a workplace accident, Todd said. Also, once Flintco was notified of the man’s hospitalization, it notified OSHA “within the hour,” said Dana Birkes, a Flintco spokesman.
UA considered Flintco’s strong reputation for workplace safety when it hired thefirm to construct the Football Operations Center, a campus spokesman said Wednesday.
“When the university looks at contractors and their subcontractors, it is looking at their track records in many areas, especially safety,” said Mark Rushing, UA’s director of strategic communications.
Trustees of the UA System selected Flintco to provide general contractor construction management services for the $40.35 million Football Operations Center on May 21, 2010.
In 2010, Flintco was named the top-ranked firm for safety in the construction of buildings by the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.
Its building division was named No. 1 in the nation for safety in 2011 by another industry group, the Associated General Contractors of America, and it finished in the top three in that category six times between 1998 and 2010.
“Flintco was hired becauseof its track record for safety,” Rushing said.
On Sunday, temperatures reached 90 at noon in Fayetteville and peaked at 96, according to the National Weather Service office in Tulsa.
The man’s body temperature reached 109 degrees at the hospital, Morris said. Hyperthermia develops at 104 degrees.
The UA Police Department was not called to the scene and is not investigating the death, Rushing said.
The man was operating a forklift Sunday morning that carried artificial turf for installation on a football practice field, according to a statement released by Tulsa-based Flintco.
Work began in January on the fields as part of the Football Operations Center project. When the fields are finished in the fall, they will sit side-by-side atop a onestory parking deck south of the Walker Pavilion indoor practice facility.
Flintco, registered to conduct business in 30 states, maintains eight offices across the country, including one in Tontitown.
The Football Operations Center is the only campus construction project currently managed by the firm, Rushing said.
When UA hires a general contractor for a construction project, the contract will include deadlines and safety rules to which the contractor agrees, Rushing said.
As to the question why a construction worker was toiling on a 90-degree day on a Sunday, Rushing said the dayto-day scheduling employees is “up to the contractor.”
“After the project begins, the responsibility ultimately falls on the contractor to meet deadlines, enforce safety rules, meet specifications,” Rushing said. “The contractors are subject to review from the university and from OSHA of course.
“Working on weekends is not prohibited,” he said.
Birkes said it is the task of the subcontractor or secondtier subcontractor to “coordinate the work in a safe environment.”
“All companies are required to follow our safety requirements as well as their own company safety-specific policies and all OSHA standard policies and regulations,” she said.
Jason W. Bell, co-owner of Symmetry Turf Installations, did not return a phone message on Wednesday.
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Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 06/28/2012