Two Fatal Construction Accidents in Manhattan on the Same Day

 Two construction workers fell, one fatally, at a building under construction in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards on Sept. 20. According to news reports, this accident happened just hours after another fatal construction accident had occurred in lower Manhattan. In the Hudson Yards incident, the victims fell about 35 feet while operating a forklift cage that collapsed around 2 p.m. at 401 9th Avenue. A skyscraper is reportedly being built by the owner at this site. One worker was pronounced dead at the scene while the other, who suffered trauma to his head and body, was rushed to an area hospital and is in stable condition, based on news accounts.

Two Fall-Related Accidents
About five hours earlier the same day, a 44-year-old worker fell from the 29th story of a high-rise under construction in the Financial District. He fell on top of a scaffold at the first-floor of a building called 1 Seaport. The victim, a carpenter and father of five from Ecuador, apparently plunged from the shaking platform he was on while erecting building materials, according to workers at the site.
The victim’s cousin told ABC News that the man fell when workers tried to loosen a cable for a crane. As they tried to do that, the cable hit the worker and knocked him down. A partial stop work order was issued at the site Wednesday due to unsafe operation of a crane. ABC News reported that the site has received nine construction-related violations since January resulting in fines including a $10,000 fine for using a tower crane without a warning light system.
Construction Accidents
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,821 workers were killed on the job in 2014, or about more than 92 fatalities a week or over 13 deaths a day. Also, 804 Latino workers were killed as a result of work-related injuries in 2014, which is approximately more than 15 deaths a week or two Latino workers killed every single day of the year.
Out of the 4,386 worker fatalities in the private industry in the calendar year 2014, 899 or 20.5 percent were in construction, which means one in five worker deaths that year were in construction. The leading causes of private sector worker deaths in the construction industry were falls (39.9 percent), electrocutions (8.4 percent), struck by object (8.1 percent) and caught-in/between (4.3 percent).
Liability Issues in Construction Accidents
Construction workers must be provided with adequate fall protection on the job including nets, handrails and harnesses. New York’s Scaffold Law also enforces strict liability on contractors and construction companies requiring them to provide a safe environment for workers when they operate from heights. According to New York’s Scaffold law (Labor Law § 240(1)), contractors and owners engaged “in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure” must provide “scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices which shall be so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to a person so employed.” This law, as it currently stands, automatically imposes strict liability on contractors and owners who have failed to provide proper safety measures for workers. In addition, construction workers should be provided with other safety equipment such as goggles. Our construction accident lawyers have seen a number of cases where workers sustain severe facial and eye injuries due to the lack of protective eyewear, especially when around flying debris.
When a worker is injured in a construction-related collapse or a fall from a ladder, he or she may be able to seek monetary assistance through their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance, which covers medical expenses and a portion of the lost wages. In some cases, workers may also be able to file what are known as third-party claims against parties other than employers or co-employees, who may have caused or contributed to a construction site fall. Examples of third parties include, but are not limited to, general contractors, sub-contractors, building owners, property managers, etc. A third party claim may result in a huge money recovery as well as provide a second source of compensation for the victim and his or her family.
Protecting Workers’ Rights
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, 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.
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 cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously 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
Sources: http://abc7ny.com/construction-worker-falls-29-floors-to-his-death-from-building/2439114/
http://nypost.com/2017/09/21/construction-worker-falls-to-his-death-in-second-accident/