Dead Boy's Kin Say Law Prohibits Scaffold Work -- State Investigating 15-Year-Old's Fall
Fifteen-year-old Brian David Schwartz never should have been anywhere near the scaffolding, four stories up, that collapsed Monday, dragging him to his death and putting a co-worker in the hospital, his family said yesterday.
"I just read the law, and 15-year-olds can't even work over a cookstove, much less be a window washer," said Mark Schwartz, the youth's uncle.
State law allows minors as young as 14 to be employed but prohibits them from working certain kinds of hazardous jobs, including any that would cause them to be more than 10 feet off the ground, according to Bill Ripple, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Industries.
Schwartz and co-worker Douglas Copeland, 36, were working outside the Northgate Medical Building at the northwest corner of Northgate Mall when the accident occurred about 1:45 p.m. Monday.
Apparently, both Schwartz and Copeland were tethered to the scaffolding, with Schwartz on the roof and Copeland on the scaffolding, when the equipment gave way, said Anthony Urie, Copeland's lawyer.
Schwartz had only been on the job for two weeks, and his boss at Olympic Window Cleaning of Des Moines had already called his home to tell his parents what a great worker he was, according to the boy's stepmother, Nancy Schwartz.
State regulators will determine whether the company's owner properly trained and protected the two from hazards, and whether any child-labor laws were broken.
The owner of the company, Jeffrey W. Rogers of Des Moines, could not be reached for comment.
Stringent requirements
While it is legal for youths as young as 14 to work in Washington, there are stringent requirements to protect their safety, Ripple said. For example, minors are prohibited from working inherently hazardous jobs, such as firefighting or road flagging.
A 1995 study by the department showed adolescents were three to four times more likely than adults to be injured or killed while working, Ripple said.
"They don't have the training. That's why there are special requirements for employers to do safety training," he said.
Olympic Window Cleaning could be fined up to $1,000 or charged with a felony if violations of either health and safety or child-labor laws are found, Ripple said.
Schwartz, who would have been a sophomore at Foster High School in Tukwila, died immediately, and Copeland was admitted to Harborview Medical Center, where he was in satisfactory condition today being treated for serious leg and hip injuries, Urie said.
Physicians operated to remove a portion of his damaged large intestine and to repair injured blood vessels, Urie said.
Copeland is scheduled to be married next month. He and his fiancee, who flew up from California to be with him, have not decided whether to postpone the wedding, Urie said.
Christine Clarridge's phone message number is 206-464-8983. Her e-mail address is: cclarridge@seattletimes.com