A worker was injured after he fell about 10 feet at the LaGuardia Airport terminal, which was under construction on Jan. 21. According to a CBS New York news report, firefighters carried the injured worker on a stretcher from the U.S. Air terminal. Fire officials said the worker fell from the third floor to the second floor. He was rushed to an area hospital for treatment of injuries. There was no immediate word on the nature and extent of the worker’s injuries. We wish the injured worker the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.
Construction Accident Falls
Falls are among the most common causes of serious work-related injuries and
deaths. Many construction workers in New York City such as ironworkers, steelworkers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, painters, window washers, and electricians etc. tend to work from an elevation by using scaffolds, platforms, ladders etc. Worksites must have safety measures in place to prevent workers from falling off overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes or shafts. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that fall protection be provided at elevations of 4 feet in general industry workplaces, 5 feet in shipyards, 6 feet in the construction industry and 8 feet in long shoring operations.
In addition, fall protection must be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance. Some of the precautions that must be taken at construction sites include guarding floor holes and shafts into which workers can accidentally walk or fall; provide guardrails and toe boards around every elevated open-sided platform, floor or runway; and provide workers with fall protection devices such as safety harnesses and lines, safety nets, stair railing and handrails. This type of personal protective equipment should be provided at no cost to workers. Construction workers should also receive proper job training, safety training and adequate supervision on the job.
Injuries and Compensation
Construction accident injuries can be debilitating and sometimes, even catastrophic. Some of the common types of injuries sustained in construction accidents include, but are not limited to, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord trauma, broken bones, internal organ injuries, limb amputations, etc.
Workers who have been injured in a construction accident can seek workers’ compensation benefits from their employer. In addition, workers and their families may be able to file a third-party lawsuit for substantial money damages against a number of parties, and thus have two sources of compensation.
Third-party claims are filed against parties other than the employer or co-employees and may include general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, managing agents, construction companies, etc. In cases where a worker dies from injuries suffered on the job, surviving family members may seek death benefits through workers’ compensation and/or file a wrongful death claim against a third party.
There are local, state and federal laws that protect workers who have been injured in falls at construction sites. Section 240 of the New York Labor Law is commonly known as the “Scaffolding Law.” This statute governs the use of scaffolding in work sites. It requires contractors, property owners and their agents who erect, demolish, repair, alter, paint or clean a structure to be responsible for providing the necessary equipment, including scaffolding, to keep workers safe from falls on the job.
This law also recognizes that falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries and that they are preventable. Workers are also required to be provided with fall safety devices when they are at a job site such as harnesses, safety nets, toe boards guardrails, etc. Scaffolds and worksites should be free of slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall hazards that might cause these major injury accidents.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you have suffered injuries in a construction-related accident, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options, and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you.
Our law firm recovered $3,375,576 for a construction worker (an undocumented immigrant) who was injured on the job – one of the highest construction case settlements in New York that year. Our law firm also recovered $3,000,000 for a man who fell and suffered two broken legs when he walked into an open elevator shaft. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other TOLL FREE phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/01/21/worker-injured-in-construction-site-fall-at-laguardia-airport/