A construction firm employing the two workers killed in a trench collapse at John F. Kennedy International Airport in April while removing soil from under a concrete slab, had failed to prop up the trench, officials said.
According to a report in The New York Times, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the firm with four serious safety violations in the April 3 construction accident including failing to properly support the slab and failing to instruct workers on how to safely dig under it.
Trench Cave-Ins
The workers — 41-year-old Francisco Reyes and 28-year-old Lagunas Pereira — were moving utility lines as part of a broader $19 billion airport improvement project when they were buried under construction rubble. Both workers were pronounced dead at the scene. OSHA’s findings marked the fifth time since 2008 that this particular construction company had been cited for failing to properly safeguard workers doing excavation work. Records show that in 2014, a worker was seriously injured when he was trapped under concrete chunks after a trench caved in at a worksite in Manhattan.
Luis Luna was buried up to his neck when a 4-foot-wide trench caved in on him in Greenwich Village. At the time, Luna, 42, had been sent by a foreman down into the trench after a backhoe encountered an obstruction while digging around an old water main. Luna was digging with a shovel when one side of the trench collapsed sending soil and chunks of pavement onto him. He required surgery on his arm, back, and abdomen but survived, the Times reports.
Preventable Accidents
Excavation and trenching accidents are preventable when construction companies, general contractors, and others involved in a project take proper steps to shore up trench walls. OSHA has cited an “alarming rise” in trench fatalities in 2022 when there were 39 deaths nationwide. In 2023 alone, 12 trench deaths have been reported in the United States, the Times reports. In some situations, trench collapse deaths have led to criminal prosecutions.
In March, a contractor was convicted of homicide in the 2018 death of a 47-year-old construction worker who was crushed under 15,000 pounds of building materials in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park section. This conviction came after Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that significantly increased fines faced by companies in construction accident cases that led to criminal convictions. The law itself was prompted by the 2015 death of a construction worker who died in a Manhattan trench collapse.
Construction remains New York’s deadliest industry and workers who are non-union and Latino are most at risk. About 10% of New York State’s workers are Latino. However, Latino workers accounted for more than a quarter of workplace fatalities statewide, according to an analysis by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, a worker safety watchdog group. At the 15 sites OSHA inspected after a fatality in 2021, 80% of the workers were non-union.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
Workers who have been injured in trench collapses or excavation-related accidents may be eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits, which cover medical expenses and a portion of lost wages. In addition, workers may also be able to file a third-party claim against a negligent (careless) party other than the employer or co-employees for significant monetary damages and have two sources of compensation available for their losses. Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, construction companies, sub-contractors, building owners, managing agents, 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 who may be held liable for the fatal incident.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction 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. For over 53 years, our skilled accident attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims get fair compensation for their losses. 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. 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.
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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/nyregion/jfk-airport-trench-collapse-deaths-osha.html