Articles Posted in Construction Accidents

In Massachusetts, a construction accident on the AstraZeneca campus in Waltham on Sunday has left one worker, 40, dead and another, age 30, with serious injuries. According to Waltham Police, the work accident occurred at around 11 in the morning while the men were installing aluminum panels to the side of the lab that is under construction.

The two workers plunged to the ground some 25 feet when the hydraulic lift that the two men were on tipped over. While the older man died at the accident site, the younger worker was admitted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Police, who are investigating the crash, say that the lift, which was on an incline, became unstable. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the fall accident.

The two construction workers worked for Lymo Construction. An earlier accident at the Lymo site resulted in one worker hurting his knee. The company, however, says that it has an “excellent” safety record on the project. Lymo was cited three years ago for not having enough fall protection at a construction site in Pembroke.

Fall Accidents
Due to the nature of construction work, workers do risk getting hurt in fall accidents. This is why it is so important that construction companies implement and enforce the proper safety precautions and that workers use the correct protection gear.

Examples of Construction Falls:

Falls from roofs: Examples of this leading cause of death at construction sites include falls through skylights and openings in roofs, as well as falls from communication towers and rooftops.

Falls from cranes: Workers have been known to fall from great heights when a crane falls over. A series of crane collapse accidents in the US have led critics to question whether the proper safety precautions are being taken to prevent crane accidents.

Falls from elevator shafts: A worker doesn’t have to fall from a great height through an elevator shaft in order to sustain serious injuries or die.

Scaffolding falls: A common cause of scaffolding fall accidents is faulty construction.

Falls through Holes in Construction Site Floors: Weak floors or holes in flooring can lead to serious injuries for workers.

1 killed, 1 hurt in accident at job site, Boston.com, October 11, 2008
Man dead, another critical after lift collapse in Waltham, The MetroWest Daily News, October 10, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Lymo Construction

Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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Six construction workers and a Florida tourist died in a construction accident on Saturday after a crane collapsed at a construction site in New York. 10 other people were injured.

The construction site was at a 43-year-old building that had already received multiple safety violations. On Tuesday, investigators were trying to determine whether the nylon webbing, worth $50, broke while lifting a large piece of steel.

The 200-foot crane fell while construction workers tried to attach a large, 12,000-pound square steel collar around the tower of the crane at the 18th floor of the building, located on East 51st Street. They were applying manual winches that seemed to be hanging from nylon slings that were hanging from a higher part of the tower.

The collar, winches, and slings fell, crashed into another collar at the ninth floor, and landed on a third collar located close to the bottom of the construction site. The tower then collapsed, leveling a nearby building and damaging other nearby properties.

According to Paul S. Zorich, chairman of the committee on crane and sling safety standards of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, photographs of the sling show that it could have been “grossly overloaded.”

Construction safety experts say that these slings usually can carry loads as heavy as several tons unless they are worn or damaged.

Steven R. Dewey, president of All-Lifts, a company that makes construction slings, says sling failures only occurs if they are damaged or cut. He also said that slings are manufactured to carry five times the indicated weight.

Joy Contractors is the company overseeing the crane work at the site.

Construction accidents can often lead to catastrophic if not deadly injuries. Construction workers injured on the job cannot sue their employers for recovery. They are, however, eligible for workers’ compensation benefits and they may be able to claim damages from third parties, such as the manufacturer of a defective product or another party that is found liable for the injury accident.

Even if your employer guarantees you workers’ compensation benefits, one of our Boston, Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorneys can make sure that you receive all of the benefits you are eligible for in a timely manner.

Failure of Strap Is Suspected in Crane Collapse, New York Times, March 18, 2008
Seven dead in New York crane accident, BBC News, March 16, 2008

Related Web Resource:

A Review of Crane Safety in the Construction Industry
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A construction worker was injured a construction site at Pelham Road in Salem, Massachusetts, last week after the scissor lift that he was riding in tipped backward and fell to the ground. Semir Mehmedoxic, 20, fell out of the bucket. As of last Saturday, he was being treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he was reportedly in stable condition.

Mensur Ramic, a 21-year-old Manchester resident, says that he and Mehmedoxic had been sanding an exterior wall when the construction accident occurred. Ramic was able to grab onto the roof and pull himself to safety when the scissor lift tipped back.

Both men were at the site to help build a 60,000 square-foot gym that belongs to The Workout Club and Wellness Center chain.

Paul LeVasseur, the project superintendent, said that he did not know the man who fell and that different subcontractors often worked at the site. He criticized the lift machine’s condition. The lift machine had been provided by subcontractor Classic Exteriors LLC of Manchester. He thinks that the accident was caused by mechanical failure.

Firefighters had to siphon gas from the lift because a tank was punctured in the fall.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been investigating the cause of the construction accident.

Injuries sustained at a construction site are frequently catastrophic, if not fatal.

Common kinds of construction accidents include

• Scaffolding accidents • Electrical accidents • Injuries caused by defective equipment • Cutting accidents • Falls
• Welding injuries • Exposure to hazardous or toxic substances • Faulty use of equipment • Improper maintenance or repair of construction machinery and vehicles
If you have been seriously injured at a construction site or while working at any other job in Massachusetts, you are eligible for benefits under workers’ compensation. A good workers’ compensation attorney can make sure that your benefits start immediately, and-if not-that you receive any back benefits that are owed to you.

Your workers’ compensation lawyer can also make sure that your employer and its insurance company are not preventing you from receiving the benefits that you are legally entitled to. If a family member was killed because of negligence or carelessness at a construction site, you may be eligible to receive benefits from the employer under your loved one’s workers’ compensation package.

If there is a third party that is considered a liable party, you may be able to file a personal injury or a wrongful death claim against them also.

OSHA investigates work site accident, Eagle Tribune, August 11, 2007
Worker hurt in fall at Salem construction site; Co-worker, dangling from roof, escapes injury, Eagle Tribune, August 10, 2007
Related Web Resources:

OSHA Assistance for the Construction Industry, U.S. Department of Labor
Department of Industrial Accidents, Massachusetts.gov Continue reading