Man hit by steel scaffolding, according to investigators
EDISON -- Police on Thursday identified the worker killed in a scaffolding collapse at a Mill Road warehouse as a 36-year-old man from New Brunswick.
Julio Perez was working at the NuWorld Beauty Supply warehouse in the Heller Industrial Park Saturday afternoon when a section of steel scaffolding fell on him, Edison police said in a news release. The death was accidental.
Witnesses told investigators that Perez was among several laborers who were taking apart scaffolding when the collapse occurred, according to police. The other workers moved out of the way just before the scaffolding fell and were not injured.
Worker killed in Edison scaffolding collapse, police say
NuWorld Beauty leases the Mill Road facility and none of its employees were on site during the accident, said Lauren Kahn, a spokeswoman for the company. Perez worked for a firm hired by NuWorld, called Diversified Rack.
"Diversified Rack was hired by NuWorld Beauty to dismantle shelving that Diversified previously installed," Kahn said in an email.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Fatal Accident Investigations Unit and officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to the collapse.
Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.