Articles Posted in Construction Accidents

In Westford, Massachusetts, a quarry worker died on the job after a giant metal plate pinned him underneath. The metal had been dropped by an excavator.

Manuel Neves, 62, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was using a machine that recycled large concrete blocks when the Massachusetts quarry accident occurred.

Neves was working for Boston Power and Crushing. He died from injuries sustained in the accident. Federal safety inspectors were called in to investigate the accident.

Pawtucket man killed in quarry accident, Eyewitnessnewstv.com, October 10, 2008
Metal Plate Crushes Westford Worker To Death, WBZTV.com, October 3, 2008 Continue reading

Police are withholding the name of a fatally injured construction worker until they are able to notify his family. The 48-year old died last Monday because of a construction site accident at Mesilla Valley Mall in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Police said the man was working on the roof of the building when he fell about 30 feet. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Officials from the Occupation Safety and Health Administration arrived at the scene of the construction accident to conduct an investigation.

Unfortunately, this is not the first industrial accident in the area to result in fatalities in the past year. Last December, a 22-year-old was killed after getting caught in a drilling rig’s auger. Another worker, 49, was killed last November while trying to clear a paper jam in a city-owned paper baler.

Construction worker falls to his death at mall, Las Cruces Sun-News, September 23, 2008 Continue reading

The Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Massachusetts reported on a Windham police officer who was recently injured on the job while directing traffic on Route 111. The incident occurred last Thursday while police Officer Bryan Smith was at a construction project at the corner of Range Road and Route 111.

Smith was struck in the back by the driver’s side mirror of a pick-up truck driven by Paul Norton, 45, of Manchester. Smith sustained back injuries and was transported to Parkland Medical Center.

This is the second time an officer has been hit by a car this summer in almost the same spot on this same construction project. In June, Officer Greg Malisos was hit by a sport utility vehicle which knocked him into a 4-foot ditch.

In the summer of 2007, Derry police Officer Robert Moore was seriously injured by a pickup truck. Moore was directing traffic on Route 28. The driver who struck him was charged with DWI.

Windham police officer struck while working Route 111 detail, The Eagle Tribune, September 12, 2008 Continue reading

Two steel-and-concrete beams intended as part of the Route 1A bridge reconstruction failed a Massachusetts state safety inspection last week, resulting in a delay in installation.

One of the 120-foot-long beams was damaged during an accident and another sustained damage during loading. Both beams will need to be remanufactured, which Adam Hurtubise of MassHighway said will set back their installation about three weeks.

However, MassHighway says that with time built into the schedule for contingencies, the completion date should remain the same. They estimate that the bridge may reopen as soon as the spring of 2009. S & R Corp., of Lowell, is the general contractor on the project and has been working on an accelerated timetable.

Since September 27, the Route 1A bridge has been closed for what highway official estimated would be a two-year reconstruction project. The original plan was to keep one of the two lanes open to traffic, but severe deterioration of the bridge forced officials to reduce traffic to one lane in the center of the bridge.

Shutting down the bridge completely has negatively impacted businesses in both Rowley and Newbury, since these companies rely on Route 1A traffic to bring in business.

Giant beams damaged at Route 1A bridge, Newburyport News, August 26, 2008 Continue reading

A subcontractor employee died recently after a five-story fall down an elevator shaft several weeks ago. The accident was reported just before 6:30 am on August 4. The construction worker, David Smith, 31, of Jackson, was an employee of Schindler Elevator Corp. The construction manager on the project was Gilbane-Clark.

Construction on the six-story, $145 million University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business halted immediately after the accident but was expected to resume soon afterwards.

Investigators have ruled out criminal activity, but, as of early this month, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the construction manager was continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the construction accident.

Worker dies after fall at UM construction site, Crain’s Detroit Business, August 4, 2008 Continue reading

According to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, a jury recently found a forklift manufacturer not liable for a 1999 forklift accident in Wayland which resulted in severe injuries to the operator, leaving him with severe disabilities.

The operator was delivering trees to a construction site when he was thrown from the forklift. He was not wearing a seatbelt, but he lived for seven years after the accident. The plaintiff medical expert testified that the operator’s death from a brain hemorrhage was casually related to his spinal cord injury.

The trial stretched over five weeks, and at its conclusion, the jury returned its unanimous verdict on February 12, 2008. Using a single witness, the defense persuaded the jury that operator error caused the accident, not a defect in the forklift or a breach of warranty.

The worker’s own deposition testimony supported the defense’s assertion that it was operator error. Investigators for the Wayland Police Department and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration corroborated that conclusion.

Worker thrown from forklift rendered quadriplegic, MassLawyersWeekly.com, August 18, 2008 Continue reading

As longtime Boston residents may recall, a crane accident injured a construction worker 1999 during the Big Dig. More recently, fatal crane accidents in New York City, Texas, and Oklahoma have brought crane safety back into the public interest.

In response to the deaths of these construction workers following crane accidents and growing public concern over crane safety, the New York Times recently published an editorial calling for the current administration to take action and approve new standards for crane safety. The last time the federal safety rules had a significant update was in 1971.

According to the editorial, OSHA estimates that crane accidents take the lives of approximately 80 workers per year. The article also points out that concerned construction workers in Las Vegas have actually walked off the job to protest the lack of crane safety regulations.

Long Overdue Crane Safety, New York Times, August 2, 2008 Continue reading

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed fines totaling $135,200 for twelve alleged safety violations at New England Wood Pellet, LLC’s manufacturing plant in New Hampshire.

These citations come in response to an incident on January 23 where an employee was found in an unguarded conveyer. The list of alleged safety violations also includes two willful citations for combustible dust hazards and unguarded pulleys, which accounts for over $100,000 in fines.

The company also received fines for not having adequate fall protection for employees working on conveyors or employee training about working in confined spaces. In addition, they were cited for their lack of personal protective equipment for employees working on electrical equipment and for their incomplete injury and illness log.

According to Rosemarie Ohar, OSHA’s area director in Concord, “The sizable fines proposed here reflect the breadth and severity of the hazards identified during this inspection, including unguarded conveyors and exposure to fire and explosion hazards due to the design, construction and location of systems used to collect combustible wood dust generated during the manufacturing process.”

Continue reading