The tragic

death of a construction worker last week is the fourth

accident at Peachtree City building sites in the past

three months, according to a city building official.

Safety

guidelines were reviewed at Thursday's quarterly

builders' meeting, during which time building official

Thomas Carty spoke briefly about the accident that took

the life of Michael Phipps.

No official

cause of death has been announced, but it was suspected

that Phipps died accidently after inhaling fumes from a

waterproofing material he was spraying on a foundation.

The lot

where the death occurred, on Newport Drive in the Point

on Lake Kedron subdivision, was closed by Carty's office

immediately afterward.

"The

only thing we can do is learn from these

experiences," Carty said at the builders' luncheon,

just before pausing a moment to remember Phipps' family,

which included a wife and three children.

Carty said

that July 12, when the accident occurred, was to have

been the last day on the job for Phipps, who was planning

to become a full-time preacher.

The product

Phipps was using, known as Sunflex, was "extremely

flammable" and "in mist form," according

to Carty. Anyone using such a product should carefully

read the instructions beforehand, and in this case, a

respirator should be worn.

Another

important characteristic of Sunflex is the fact that it

is heavier than air, which was doubly important where

Phipps was working, in a shaft about 10 feet below the

ground below where the front porch of the structure will

eventually be located.

"If

the material he's spraying is heavier than air, where is

the air going? Out of the hole," said Carty.

"You can't breathe something heavier than air."

Carty

announced that in the future, whenever he finds workers

spraying such materials without respirators, he will shut

down the job site until appropriate measures are taken.

Fortunately,

this has been the only fatality stemming from accidents

at building sites this year, although a city inspector is

still recovering from a fall through a roof due to a

poorly built pull-down staircase.

Another

accident involving a pull-down staircase took place when

two firefighters climbed on it at once to fight a fire in

an attic. While that overloaded the stairs, Carty

acknowledged, the entire assembly came down, which should

not have happened.

"Install

them exactly according to the instructions," he

said.

City

engineer Troy Besseche reviewed guidelines for properly

installing and using scaffolds, which have accounted for

three injuries this year on city work sites.

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