Illinois man drowns in workplace accident

On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Workplace Accidents on Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

An Illinois family is without one of their loved ones following a tragic accident at an area construction site. While performing duties required by the course of his employment, the worker suffered fatal injuries, leaving a wife and children behind. When a workplace accident takes the life of an employee, his or her family is often entitled to death benefits through the workers’ compensation insurance system. 

The victim was employed in the construction industry for a local company at the time of his death. Just prior to the accident, he was on a boat just underneath a bridge where construction was ongoing. Although safety precautions were apparently taken, it ultimately did not help when the boat he was working on capsized.

After the boat overturned, the safety line that he was tethered to actually became stuck to its abutment — the substructure of the boat. Trapped underneath the boat, the man drowned. Some time after the accident, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration — OSHA — representative visited the scene, where presumably an investigation was launched.

While losing a loved one is always difficult, it can be especially troubling when the safety gear and equipment that was intended to keep that person safe in the event of a workplace accident does quite the opposite. The grieving period can be even further complicated when the loss of a paycheck creates a financial strain for the surviving family members. Although certainly no replacement for a loved one, Illinois families can typically address the related financial issues by successfully filing for death benefits from workers’ compensation.

Source: wgrz.com, “Batavia man drowns in workplace accident“, Jeff DiVeronica, June 24, 2015