Wynn construction worker who died after getting injured on the job ID’d as Seekonk man

Joseph Teixeira died operating an excavator at the site of Wynn Boston Harbor resort and casino.Jacob Teixeira

Federal and state investigators are trying to determine what caused a fatal accident Tuesday at the site of the Wynn Boston Harbor resort and casino under construction in Everett.

Joe Teixeira, 56, of Seekonk, was operating an excavator at the south end of the construction site and taking apart a trench box when the accident occurred around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office said in a prepared statement. He reportedly regained consciousness at the scene before being taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he later died.

“This is a very sad day for everyone at Wynn Boston Harbor. Our deepest condolences and heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to his family and coworkers,” the company said in a statement.

Teixeira was a four-year employee of J. Derenzo Companies, a spokeswoman for the family-owned Brockton firm said.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we learn of the loss of long-time J. Derenzo Co. employee and friend, Joe Teixeira, resulting from injuries sustained at the Wynn Boston job site,” Derenzo said in a statement. “Our deepest-felt thoughts and prayers are with Joe’s family, friends and co-workers, as well as everyone impacted by this incident.”

Derenzo is a subcontractor working on the $2.4 billion casino project under Boston-based lead contractor Suffolk Construction. Suffolk referred all inquiries to Wynn. On a daily basis, there are about 1,500 workers on the site.

Ryan’s office said the official cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner’s office.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria offered condolences to the victim’s family, friends, and co-workers in a statement Wednesday. “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy,” he said.

State and Everett police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the accident. Wynn is also conducting its own investigation, Wynn Boston Harbor spokesman Greg John said.

OSHA has officially opened inspections of Suffolk Construction and J. Derenzo Co. to determine whether there were any workplace safety or health standard violations, spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said. OSHA has conducted four prior inspections of subcontractors on the Wynn site, three of which are still active. They involve accidents in which an employee was struck by an excavator bucket, a worker sustained injuries after falling down a shaft, and an employee was injured after the scissor lift he was working from tipped over, according to the agency.

The fatality comes just two weeks after a March 21 accident in which two workers were injured after falling from a temporary stair scaffolding on the construction site of the Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Allston.

On-the-job deaths in Massachusetts reached a 10-year high in 2016, with about 40 percent of the fatalities related to the construction industry, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. Last year, 21 construction workers statewide died on the job, almost a third of all workplace fatalities in 2017, MassCOSH said. A MassCOSH spokesman said the agency has reached out to OSHA to get more information about the Wynn accident.