JACKSON (WNE) — A man working on a roof on a property near Astoria Hot Springs fell between 15 to 20 feet Tuesday morning.

Sgt. Jesse Willcox, of the Teton County Sheriff’s Office, said that the man was in stable enough condition to be taken to the hospital with “upper and mid extremity” injuries to his arm and waist. Willcox didn’t know where the man was from but said that he was in his 60s.

In 2022, a 42-year-old Colorado man was working for a Colorado Springs-based company when he fell 60 feet from a roof  while working on the Cody House in Teton Village. Ricardo Miranda Hernandez was killed instantly. 

Falls from heights are one of the leading causes of work-related death in the U.S., according to workplace safety inspectors.

Wyoming continues to lead the nation with the highest workplace fatality rate — 10.4 deaths per 100,000 workers based on the latest available data from 2021. This marks the second consecutive year Wyoming ranked first in workplace fatalities. 

Tammy Johnson, director of the Wyoming AFL-CIO said that two weeks ago, the organization asked the Joint Appropriations Committee in Cheyenne to hire an occupational epidemiologist for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. Epidemiologists investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability or health outcomes, sometimes developing preventative measures.

“We demand that Gov. Mark Gordon install an occupational epidemiologist to study why roofers are falling off roofs, why people who use transportation for work are getting killed and why our death rate continues to be highest in the nation,” she said.

Johnson also said that fines are too low to incentivize safe workplaces. 

She is worried about talks at the state level of reducing regulation on the housing industry and what that will mean for the safety of workers.