Noe Diaz-Gamez, 26, was killed in a construction accident in Glen Cove, New York, after he fell from a roof at a job site. According to a report on Patch.com police were called to a vacant warehouse on Garvies Point Road and officers were directed to the inside of the warehouse where the worker had just fallen from the roof onto the concrete floor. Police and emergency medical workers began rendering aid and the man was airlifted to a regional hospital.
However, he succumbed to severe head injuries shortly after arriving at the hospital. Gomez was working for a roofing company and was replacing parts of the metal roof when he fell, officials said. Local police as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated the scene. Officials determined after a thorough investigation that the death was accidental in nature. We offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the deceased worker.
Preventing Falls from Roofs
Whether you are a roofer, installer of solar panels, ironworker/steelworker or a laborer who works on ladders and scaffolds, fall protection and safety is imperative. OSHA recommends the following guidelines to prevent falls from roofs, which have the potential to lead to catastrophic injuries and fatalities:
Safety equipment: Workers at construction sites need to be provided with the right type of safety equipment as well as instructions on how and when to use them. Equipment such as ladders that are used routinely on constructions sites should be safe and up to code. Ladders should be inspected for cracked, broken or defective parts before each and every use. Another employee should be on the ground to monitor the ladder and the worker. Workers should also be equipped with fall safety devices such as safety harnesses, guardrails for support, safety nets and other fall arrest systems.
Safety training: By training workers properly on how to use tools, equipment and machinery safely, the risk of injuries and fatalities from falls can be significantly reduced. It is also important to train them on safety requirements and procedures included in the safety plan. Such training must be provided in a language that workers can understand and process.
Inspection and cleanup: Each day, the site manager or other qualified personnel should inspect all machines, tools and protective equipment to make sure they work properly. Scaffolds and ladders should also be inspected to make sure they are safe to use. Work areas should be clean and free of hazards. A cleanup of work areas should be done before work begins.
In addition, OSHA states that fall protection must be provided when working over dangerous equipment and machinery, regardless of the fall distance. 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.
NY Law Protects Construction Workers
Construction workers in New York, including roofers, are covered by Section 240 of the New York Labor Law, which charges construction companies, contractors and other parties with the responsibility of providing workers with proper fall protection while constructing, demolishing, remodeling or doing other types of work such as roofing on structures. This law assigns strict liability for accidents to the parties responsible for assigning and managing the work.
Workers injured in falls can bring civil actions against the construction company, contractor and property owner/manager, etc. responsible for the safety of the jobsite. Construction accident injuries can be debilitating and sometimes, even catastrophic or fatal. A construction accident victim can seek workers’ compensation benefits from his or her 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.
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, lead poisoning and medical malpractice cases including, brachial plexus palsy (Erb’s palsy) and cerebral palsy cases in New York, 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
Source: https://patch.com/new-york/glencove/construction-worker-dies-after-fall-glen-cove-work-site-cops