A truck weighing close to 140,000 pounds rolled or slid backwards, crushing the legs of an employee of a Stoughton, MA company.
The unidentified man was working for J.F. White Contracting Co., repairing commuter rail tracks and the Shawsheen River bridges by the Lupine Road. He was attempting to attach a heavy equipment trailer to the truck. The piece of equipment was a Caterpillar 330D and low-drill attachment that was en route to another construction site about 2 miles away, said Fire Chief Michael Mansfield in a press release.
Police received a 911 call about the accident at around 11:38 a.m., Mansfield said. When police and firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the worker pinned under the tractor-trailer’s two rear tires. It took about 25 minutes to free the victim, said Mansfield. He said firefighters lifted the tractor-trailer and machinery off the man using rescue air bags.
Andover Police Lt. James Hashem said the man sustained “a severe crushing injury to his lower extremities.” Police are waiting to notify the man’s family before releasing his identity, Hashem said.
Andover Fire Rescue personnel and Lawrence General Hospital paramedics took the man from the scene of the accident to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston via Med-Flight. Mansfield said the man suffered “life-threatening injuries,” but was conscious and alert. The Med-Flight helicopter landed in the parking lot of Hewlett-Packard off Dascomb Road.
Massachusetts State Police, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Andover Police are investigating the accident.
F.J. White did not comment on the incident. The company has performed substantial work on railroad tracks around Massachusetts, having rebuilt the bridge over the Merrimack River from Haverhill to Bradford.
Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Attorneys
Our Massachusetts workers compensation attorneys at Altman & Altman LLP have been representing injured workers for over 50 years. If you have been hurt on the job, please contact us at 617-492-3000 or by email for a free case evaluation. You may be entitled to financial compensation, as well as time off to recover.
Workers’ compensation law is supposed to guarantee specific benefits to workers that get hurt on the job-even if the worker is the one that caused the accident. Unfortunately, receiving the benefits you’re owed is not always easy, and employers and their insurance companies have been known to claim that an injury did not happen at work or that a worker is entitled to less benefits. An insurer or employer may also try pressuring an employee to return to work sooner than what the doctor is recommending. The experienced Massachusetts workers compensation lawyers of Altman & Altman LLP will aggressively fight for the benefits to which you are entitled.
Source: Employee of Stoughton company seriously hurt in accident on the job, www.patriotledger.com, February 13, 2013.