Six construction workers were injured early Tuesday morning when part of a building at Bryant University suddenly collapsed.
The indoor practice facility, part of the university’s Smithfield, Rhode Island campus, was under construction. At around 8:15 WCVB reports, the building gave way, trapping several workers under beams. Fortunately, all six workers sustained only minor injuries. The 78,000 square foot building has been under construction since May 2015 and was slated to open in 2016. AZ Corp. Construction Management is currently overseeing the building’s construction.
The construction industry has continued to prove itself the most dangerous line of work in all of United States. Construction industry deaths account for more than 20% of all occupational injuries. According to a recent post by the National Trial Lawyers and the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA), 4,585 workers were fatally injured while on the job in 2013–or an average of 88 deaths per week and 12 deaths per day, according to OSHA’s most recent figures. At Altman & Altman, our workers compensation lawyers we are acutely aware of these statistics. We have been helping families of those injured on the job for nearly 50 years.
We handle all types of Workers’ Compensation Cases, including, but not limited to:
- Failure to Pay Wages
- Scaffolding Accidents
- Crane Accidents
- Construction Site Blasting Accidents
- Other Work Related Injuries
- Industrial Accidents
Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation law was established as a guarantee to workers who are hurt on the job that they and their families will be covered financially, should their injury prevent him/her from returning to work. This guarantees workers are covered even if the worker is the one that caused the accident. In Massachusetts, workers’ compensation benefits usually include coverage of medical costs, disability payments, 60% of average income (or greater if your injury resulted in a disability), compensation for permanent disfigurement or scars, compensation for loss of function, vocational retraining if the injury prevents the worker from returning to his/her original job, and death benefits for immediate family members if the worker was killed on the job. In return for this “guarantee,” an employee is not allowed to sue his or her employer for any work-related injuries.
Receiving workers’ compensation benefits is not always easy. Workers who have been injured in a workplace accident are always advised to consult with a legal professional immediately after sustaining an injury. At the law offices of Altman & Altman, our Boston workers’ compensation attorneys have successfully argued our clients’ cases before the Industrial Accident Board and other presiding bodies so that benefits (and back benefits) are paid immediately. We have also protected clients from insurers or employees that have tried to prematurely cut off compensation benefits, and, when necessary, we have negotiated for the highest possible injury settlements and verdicts.
If you or a loved one was injured while at work, contact our office today for a free initial consultation with one of our esteemed attorneys. Our lawyers are available around the clock to assist you with any questions you have about your case.
Read the original article by WCVB here.