As if the federal government shutdown isn’t haunting your dreams enough, here’s something new to fear: A man walking to a meeting in Ballston fell 15 feet into a ventilation shaft after a steel grate he stepped on gave way.

ARLNow reports:

The incident happened just before 10:00 a.m. The worker was walking to a meeting when he stepped on a steel grate, adjacent to the sidewalk, which collapsed. He fell about 15 feet into a ventilation shaft, landing on a concrete ledge. Scanner reports suggest he suffered head and rib injuries.

A technical rescue team from the Arlington County Fire Department used a Stokes basket to lift the man from the shaft. With dried blood visible on his face, he was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the trauma center at Inova Fairfax Hospital around 11:00 a.m.

The man, a white male in his 50s, was conscious, alert and breathing, fire department spokesman Capt. Bill Shelton said. There’s no official word on the nature of his injuries.

Inova Fairfax Hospital was unable to comment on the man’s condition without a name. NBC4 reports that the injuries appeared to be non-life threatening, so at least there’s that. Still, I know at least one DCist editor who will be steering clear of grates for the near future.