Minnesota OSHA is investigating a workplace incident that claimed the life of an 18-year-old construction worker in Eagan last week.
Aaron M. Welle of Holdingsford, Minnesota, died at a Minneapolis hospital Friday, two days after suffering an electrical shock while working on an apartment project at the intersection of Dodd Road and Interstate 494. The 250-unit project is part of the Viking Lakes development.
A police spokesman said the victim “stepped in a puddle with an electrical cord,” according to media reports. A 911 caller reported that the worker wasn’t breathing and was unconscious, the spokesman said.
Electrocution is unusual compared to other causes of workplace fatalities, according to Minnesota OSHA records. Between 2016 and 2020, Minnesota OSHA investigated five deaths caused by electrocution: four in 2018 and one in 2020.