Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

A pipeline construction accident left a construction worker seriously injured after the worker’s clothing became tangled in a road boring machine, causing him to be pulled into the machine or into the hole.

Jeremy Morris, 30, was transported from the scene of the construction accident to LSU hospital. The Laney Directional Drilling Co. worker suffered extensive internal and external injuries and was listed in critical condition.

This marked the second accident in the area in as many weeks. The earlier accident resulted in the death of a worker whose clothing was caught in a piece of machinery on a drilling rig. That worker died at the scene of the drilling rig accident.

Simsboro man seriously injured in pipeline construction accident, Shreveport Times, November 18, 2008 Continue reading

This morning around 10:30am, a construction worker was taken to the hospital via airlift following a construction accident near the intersection of US 29 and Calohan Road. According to the county sheriff’s office, an overturned crane at a Bojangles restaurant injured the worker. The injured worker’s name and condition were not released to the press.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over five thousand construction workers were killed in construction accidents in 2006, while many more sustained serious injuries. Construction site hazards include explosions, crane collapses, fires, electrical shock, and excavation accidents, which may result in internal injuries, disfigurement, or severed limbs.

Worker taken to hospital after construction accident, NewsAdvance.com, November 24, 2008 Continue reading

Last Thursday, a North Andover Department of Public Works worker was injured. The explosion is under investigation; however, it is believed that the explosion may have been caused by fumes from a cutting torch.

Kenneth Wedge, 59, was using the acetylene torch to remove the top of a barrel. It exploded and surged 20 feet into the air, throwing Wedge about 5 feet. Wedge’s pants caught fire after the explosion, but he was able to snub out the flames by rolling on the ground. The accident victim endured second-degree burns and a broken right arm, but no internal injuries were found.

As a result of the accident, the DPW will institute new worker training to prevent future explosions and OSHA’s industrial accident division will examine reports and police photographs from the accident.

DPW explosion under investigation, WickedLocal.com November 19, 2008 Continue reading

A Dracut, Massachusetts construction company has been fined $14,700 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration following the death of a construction worker on June 3. Robert Augeri, 31, a worker employed by Brox Industries was working on an overnight highway paving project on Interstate 495 when he was killed by a Mack drump truck. It was the first fatal accident in a Massachusetts Highway Department construction zone in more than a decade.

According to regional director for public affairs with the US Department of Labor, OSHA is still investigating the company that owned the dump truck. It has six months from the time of the construction accident to conclude its investigation.

Brox was cited for three different safety violations: not properly training each employee on how to avoid unsafe conditions, not adequately illuminating the work areas, and not developing safety programs for directing trucks in areas where workers are on foot. OSHA considers these violations to be serious, according to the citation.

OSHA fines company in worker’s death on I-495, The Eagle-Tribune, November 1, 2008 Continue reading

A service technician who was working on a new high school wing suffered electrical burns as the result of a construction-related accident. Paramedics arrived at the school where the accident occurred around 8:35 am. The accident victim was alert and able to answer questions when they arrived. He had sustained injuries to his left arm.

Officials say the technician was working on a boiler trying to put it into temporary service. The boiler was not in use at the time of the accident, and the man was working alone. He is an employee of a mechanical contracting firm based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The severity of his injuries is unknown but authorities say that they range between first and third degree burns. The construction accident victim’s name has not been released.

Worker burned in RB construction accident, RBLandmark.com, October 28, 2008 Continue reading

Last Friday around 3pm, the fire department responded after reports of a collapsed structure at a construction site on Hawaii’s North Shore near Chun’s Reef.

Initially, the firefighters had expected to free a trapped person, but when they arrived at the scene of the accident, they discovered that the victim, a man in his 60s, was already freed.

He was treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital.

“The initial report was there was a person that had been trapped by some collapse during a building construction project of a residential nature,” said a fire department representative. “But before we even got there he was freed – how, I don’t know. But we assessed that no other companies were needed.”

Minor injury from North Shore construction accident, Honolulu Advertiser, October 24, 2008 Continue reading