Plastic sheeting breaks worker's fall in Allston

ALLSTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- Plastic sheets broke a construction worker’s fall in Allston Monday.

The plastic sheeting may have prevented a serious injury. Now federal safety officials are investigating.

The accident happened around 9 a.m. Monday at 1959 Commonwealth Ave.

Neighbors said workers set up here about a month ago. You can see the broken boards where the worker fell. OSHA said the plastic wrapped around the front of this building was designed to block the winds as work was being done, but this morning it blocked a lot more than that.

“I heard like a crash, sort of, but I didn't hear any voices after that. I guess it sounded like a rustling of this and a little boom,” said Karli Sultzbaugh.

Sultzbaugh said the building has been under construction for a while.

"So, I just expected they had been knocking on something. I don’t know if he got tangled up in the plastic and that pretty much saved him from falling onto the concrete, so that's really good,” said Sultzbaugh.

OSHA, the agency that investigates work site accidents arrived hours later. They checked out the site from all areas, including the roof.

The worker had to be cut out of the plastic and he was then taken to the hospital. He’s lucky to be alive.

“I guess he was just lucky,” said a local.

At this point investigators don't even know where the worker was standing when he fell or anything about the company who is doing the work here.

The worker did not suffer any life threatening injuries.