Three construction workers were hospitalized Friday afternoon after reportedly falling from a cherry picker at a job site in Miami Beach, with officials saying the fall measured roughly 20 feet. The circumstances behind the fall remained unclear as emergency crews worked the scene near West 53rd Street and Collins Avenue.
Fire Rescue Responds Near West 53rd Street
According to WSVN, Miami Beach Fire Rescue units responded to the construction site near West 53rd Street and Collins Avenue on Friday afternoon after the three workers reportedly fell from the cherry picker. Paramedics rushed all three to the hospital following the fall, the station reported. Officials said the workers fell 20 feet, though details on exactly how the fall occurred remained unclear at the time of the report.
All three workers were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, per the same account. Their conditions had not been released as of Friday, leaving the severity of their injuries unknown. The station described the incident as a developing story.
Federal Rules Govern Fall Protection on Lifts
While the cause of Friday's fall has not been established, federal workplace safety guidance lays out strict tie-off requirements for employees working from aerial lifts like cherry pickers. Under subpart L of its standards, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to ensure workers remain tied off at all times while operating from an aerial lift, and employees using personal fall-arrest systems on lifts six feet or higher above a lower level must comply with separate requirements under subpart M. It is not known whether any safety violation is connected to Friday's incident.
Falls remain a persistent hazard in the construction industry nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that slips, trips, and falls are the leading cause of death for construction workers, and that such incidents killed more than 400 U.S. workers in 2022.
Cherry picker incidents have made headlines elsewhere in recent years, though under different circumstances. In December 2022, a crane struck a cherry picker near I-95 and Broward Boulevard, hospitalizing two workers, the station reported at the time. In May 2024, construction workers in San Antonio were hospitalized after becoming trapped overnight inside a cherry-picker basket, according to local station KSAT. Neither incident is connected to Friday's fall in Miami Beach.
No further details on the identities of the workers, their employer, or the project at the site have been released. This remains a developing story.
