Construction Worker’s Death at Berkeley School Is Under Investigation

Police and California workplace safety officials are investigating the death of a 41-year-old man who fell several stories at a Berkeley elementary school while installing scaffolding last week, the Berkeley Police Department said.

On July 24, the Berkeley Fire Department responded to a 911 call around 12:50 p.m. that someone had fallen from scaffolding on the 2800 block of Ellsworth Street. Crews found a construction worker on the ground after he fell from a height of about 40 feet. The man had been working on a renovation project at Sylvia Mendez Elementary School.

The man died after being taken to a hospital, police said. The Alameda County coroner’s office identified him as Jonathan Dillard Guidi of Sacramento. Guidi was a father of seven children.

“He had the biggest heart and always put others first,” said a GoFundMe opened to help support Guidi’s family. “There are simply no words to describe the hole his absence leaves behind.”

The Berkeley Police Department, which is conducting a death investigation, said the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health also responded to the scene.

Cal/OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the occupational safety investigation.

The agency, which inspects workplaces across the state for occupational safety and health violations, conducts investigations in cases where a death or other serious injury or illness is reported. Cal/OSHA “must issue any citations within six months” of when a violation occurred, according to the agency.