4 workers sent to hospital after construction accident
On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Construction Workers’ Accidents on Monday, May 25, 2015.
A construction site became the scene of an accident following a serious fall that injured multiple workers and a subcontractor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — a federal agency that investigates workplace accidents in Illinois and across the country — plans to investigate the events leading up the fall. The construction company that employs the men injured in the construction accident does not believe that it committed any safety violations.
The workers were in the process of unstrapping some of the rafters at the construction site when the accident occurred. For reasons that are not yet clear, both the workers and the rafters tumbled off of the elevated work area and fell to the ground. The 15-foot drop seriously injured four of the construction workers and sent them all to the hospital, although two were later released. The other two were kept for further treatment.
Following the accident, the construction company pointed out its dedication to safety, including making sure all workers have the proper safety equipment and have weekly safety meetings. The company believes it may have just been an unfortunate accident not related to any safety deficiencies, but that will be up to OSHA to determine at the conclusion of its investigation. However, the company has never received any citations from OSHA in the past.
Even if the construction accident was simply that — an unfortunate accident — employees injured while on the job are within their rights to file for benefits through the workers’ compensation system. Workers’ compensation benefits address lost wages and medical expenses for the injured to help ensure the most favorable recovery possible until such a time that a worker is able to return to work. Injured workers in Illinois might find that a full recovery without these benefits is simply not attainable.
Source: katu.com, “4 workers injured in fall at Happy Valley construction site“, Stephen Mayer, May 15, 2015
