Category Archives: Construction Site Accident

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Is the World Trade Center construction site cursed?

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Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

If you or someone you know was injured in a construction accident, contact our Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys today.

We certainly do not need to recount the tragic events of 9/11, nor do we need to relive the devastation that the World Trade Center endured.  Moving forward, a new World Trade building is being constructed, and naturally, issues have arisen during the course of this project.  With any construction project, accidents are inevitable, but for massive projects such as the World Trade, incidents seem to occur more frequently.

This past Wednesday, a fire erupted at the World Trade construction site.  According to reports, the New York Fire Department responded to the scene after being notified that a storage container at the site had become engulfed with flames.  At this juncture, it remains unclear as to the cause of the blaze, but at the very least, no injuries have been reported as of yet.  There is no question that this site commonly referred to as “ground zero” has endured significant hardship, but as 2012 comes to a close, the number of construction site accidents have been overwhelming.

As a Fort Myers construction lawyer that sues companies for construction site accidents, I am rarely surprised when I hear about incidents similar to that detailed above.  Because when it comes down to it, construction zones pose extremely dangerous conditions for its workers.  However, the number of construction accidents occurring at the World Trade Center construction site this year are mind-boggling.

Beginning on February 16, a crane accident occurred resulting in the free-fall of a steel beam dropping 40 stories onto a flatbed truck — resulting in no injuries.  A few months later on June 2, the 89th floor of the new World Trade tower caught fire, but luckily no injuries were reported.  Later that same month, a construction worker fell onto a piece of metal that pierced his side, which resulted in a leg injury.  In July, another worker had been injured after a large steel beam rolled over onto his leg, which required hospital treatment.  Then in August, a construction worker suffered a trip and fall that required treatment for minor injuries.  Lastly, one month before the fire that occurred this past Wednesday, a worker had been struck by a piece of overhead pipe that became dislodged — causing a minor head wound.

Being a Naples personal injury lawyer that helps those hurt in construction accidents, not one incident occurring at the World Trade construction site this past year is shocking to me.  Whether the construction company does everything completely correct in managing the site, or is negligent in some fashion, a North Miami Beach construction lawyer has most likely helped a client involved in the same or similar accident.  These construction accidents occurring this past year are not abnormal, but the larger the site, the larger the possibility of an incident occurring.

Injured?  Contact our Cape Coral personal injury attorneys today.

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: 2 Workers Injured After Steel Beam Collapse

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Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

If you or someone you know was injured, contact our Fort Lauderdale construction lawyers today.

Just yesterday on a construction site at the University of Utah, two construction workers were seriously injured when a large steel beam collapsed.  According to reports, the construction workers had been lifting the beam when they lost control and it came crashing down on top of them.  The construction company had been performing work to a new building on the campus of the University of Utah at the time of this construction accident.  It has been reported that when the beam fell, it struck one worker and pinned another beneath it.  The two men were transported to a local hospital and were said to be in critical condition.  One construction worker sustained an injury to his hip, while the other sustained injury to his leg.  No additional injuries have been reported at this time.

As a Fort Myers construction lawyer, it does not appear at this point that the injuries sustained by the workers were due to any wrongdoing by the construction company. However, this presumption is solely based upon the limited reporting of this construction accident at this juncture.  For Naples personal injury lawyers that sue construction companies in Florida, it is usually apparent that more times than not the accident could have been avoided.

However, negligence by construction companies that lead to injury are certainly a vehicle for North Miami Beach lawyers to travel within when filing a lawsuit in Florida.  Though, as I have commented in numerous articles in the past, mere negligence is not enough to sustain a successful lawsuit against an employer.  Yet, this does not apply to injuries sustained by non-employees at or near construction sites.

Nevertheless, being a Cape Coral construction lawyer, I have come to recognize that with the ever-changing landscape of the state of Florida, construction is a constant, and as a result, construction site accidents are a constant.  With respect to the construction accident referenced above, that oversight by the construction workers led to serious injury to themselves — but as South Florida construction lawyers come to recognize, oversights by construction companies can often lead to devastating injury for clients.  So, if at all possible, when you come across a construction zone, walk the other way.

 

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Construction Worker Slips and Falls into Wet Concrete

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Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

Contact Construction Injury Lawyer Brandon Stein for a free legal consultation.

Just yesterday, a construction employee performing work in a construction area was taken to a local Boston hospital after a slip and fall accident.  Authorities say that the construction worker became trapped within wet concrete after the sidewalls of the site had shifted — causing the employee to lose his balance and slip and fall into the concrete.

Fire rescue was contacted and responded to the scene immediately to provide relief to the fallen worker.  Apparently, it had taken firefighters hours before they were able to remove the construction worker from the wet cement, but thankfully were able to prevent injury to the person, so do not expect to see any lawyer involvement with this construction site accident.  Due to the nature of this construction site trip and fall, the only way the firefighters were able to remove the worker from the concrete was to take out pieces of the dirt and concrete by hand, which certainly explains why it had taken several hours to remove the man.

As a construction lawyer in North Miami Beach that helps those injured from slip and falls at construction sites, certain regulations posted on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website must be followed in order to prevent serious injury.  Specifically, companies that manage or oversee construction projects have a duty to provide for fall protection, as well as institute other slip and fall prevention measures.

As a result of helping several people that have been injured in North Miami from a slip and fall on a construction site, I understand that a Florida lawyer must be well aware of the federal regulations related to these types of accidents.  Specifically, 29 C.F.R. 1926.501(a)(2) pertains to the duty that construction companies have to provide for fall protection, and states that construction employees should only be allowed to work in construction zones when the surfaces have the requisite strength and structural integrity.

Being a lawyer in Aventura that handles construction site slip and fall cases, it is not uncommon for a worker or layperson to trip and fall in a construction area.  In fact, many slip and falls that occur are quite similar to that construction accident detailed above. While the falls may not necessarily involve being pinned within concrete, often times the structural integrity of the site is faulty — thus leading to injuries in the construction zone.

If you or someone you know was injured from a slip and fall, please contact our Fort Lauderdale construction injury lawyers today.

 

Florida Construction Injury Lawyer: Serious Injury Avoided After Construction Truck Accident

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Brandon Stein

By: Brandon Stein

Typically, construction accidents occur causing injury on the actual site itself.  However, the scope of a construction site accident can perhaps be extended to outside of the construction site.  After a person is injured at or near the construction area, more times than not, fault falls on the shoulders of the construction company in charge of overseeing the site.

Yet, an accident may be categorized as a construction site accident even if construction had not yet begun or was not ongoing at the time of the injury.  Being a Pembroke Pines personal injury lawyer that sues construction companies for construction site accidents, expanding the scope of supervision of a construction area can force companies to incur liability even before construction equipment is on the site.

Early yesterday morning on route 495 in Massachusetts, a 10-wheel construction dump truck was on the way to its construction site when it collided with a large tractor trailer traveling on the highway. This truck accident caused both fuel tanks to rupture and leak fuel all over the highway. Thankfully no one was injured from this truck accident, despite over 120 gallons of diesel fuel being spread across the highway.  Nevertheless, contractors from the construction site had agreed to clean up the spill on the highway.

As a Broward construction accident lawyer, one cannot help but think — if someone had been injured, would the construction company be responsible?  After all, contractors did agree to hire the company, Clean Harbors, to clean up that spill.  A common issue arising out of many construction injury cases that lawyers face is “causation.”  In other words, a Florida construction lawyer must always prove that the injury suffered was caused in some way by the construction company.  Other than injuries resulting from accidents on construction sites, it is certainly a difficult, but not impossible  task for a South Florida lawyer to prove fault of a construction company when the accident occurs off-site.

For questions on this issue or if you or someone you know was injured in a truck accident or construction site accident, please contact our Florida lawyers today.