By Carrie J. Sidener

Published: March 20, 2008

A Moneta man died en route to the hospital Wednesday after a fall from scaffolding inside a building at a construction site off Virginia 122, deputies said.

Donald Lee Patrick, 51, an employee of Riverview Plumbing and Heating Inc. in Gretna, was doing some caulking work inside one of the buildings at the Downtown Moneta development at the intersection of Moneta and Whitehouse roads, said Maj. Ricky Gardner of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office.

Patrick was working alone in the room. A co-worker walked past and saw him on the ground with the scaffolding next to him and called 911, Gardner said.

The accident is under investigation by the state Department of Labor.

The construction work is being contracted through J.E. Jamerson & Sons. Riverview Plumbing is one of the subcontractors on the project.

Phillip Jamerson, president of J.E. Jamerson & Sons, said Patrick’s first day on the job was Wednesday. Patrick was standing on scaffolding that was only six or seven feet off the ground, and struck his head on the concrete floor in the fall.

“It’s a horrible thing,” Jamerson said Thursday.  “I hate to see that happen anywhere.”

(Terry Jamerson, publisher of The News & Advance, is the wife of Phillip Jamerson.)

The building, while part of the Downtown Moneta project, was sold as an outparcel, said George Aznavorian, one of the lead developers on the project.

“It is a sad situation,” he said.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s records show several violations filed against Riverview Plumbing, including one filed in December for an employee training violation. The company was fined $875.

Riverview Plumbing president Tim Pruitt told WSLS Newschannel 10 that Wednesday’s death was an accidental tragedy.

He said Patrick received the required safety training during orientation on Tuesday.

“We tried to provide training and safety equipment needed,” he said, “and we just feel sorry for the family and everything that happened.”