As a New Jersey law firm that specializes in work-related injuries, we understand just how dangerous construction sites can be. We have over thirty years of experience representing seriously injured victims of construction accidents throughout New Jersey.
While there are several hazards for workers on any job site, the leading cause of construction fatalities has remained the same for decades, that is falls from dangerous heights. Sadly, this statistic has hit home recently in Essex County with two workers losing their lives and others suffering from severe injuries.
As reported by Patch , these deaths have gotten the attention of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“In September 2020 in Fairfield, a 55-year-old worker died from a 20-foot fall when the lift he was working from tipped over during demolition operations. While inspecting an exhaust system in January of this year, a 44-year-old worker fell approximately 20 feet at a Newark work site. Additionally, in January and [April], two workers in Livingston suffered severe injuries after falling from roofs.” – Kris Hoffman, OSHA (via patch.com)
Hoffman added, “OSHA is calling on Essex County construction companies to ensure that employees working above 6 feet have the proper training and fall protection to protect themselves from falls on the job.”
Construction Falls – How to Prevent Them
As mentioned above, falls are the number one cause of construction-worker fatalities, accounting for one-third of all on-the-job deaths in the industry. In 2019, there were 401 fall fatalities out of 1,102 total fatalities in construction.
According to OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), companies can prevent falls from heights on their worksites by:
- Planning ahead to do the job safely before starting each and every job.
- Providing the right equipment for working at heights.
- Training their workers to use the equipment properly and to work safely on roofs, ladders, and scaffolds.
Who is at Risk?
With all of our firm’s experience in workers’ compensation and work-related accidents, we can tell you that every single job contains some level of risk when it comes to work-related injuries.
We have seen workers’ comp clients working at a basic desk job get injured from a slip and fall accident at their office. In one recent case, we helped obtain a large settlement for an office worker who suffered brain injuries in an auto accident. This settlement included $430k for negligence as well as $101k for workers’ compensation benefits since this client was performing work-related duties when the accident occurred.
Of course, those working in jobs like construction are subjected to a higher level of risk than your typical office employees. In another matter, we had a client suffer work-related injuries when falling from scaffolding while at work. Our client endured multiple fractures to the skull, knees, wrists, and face, along with a long list of other severe injuries from this accident. We were able to help the client obtain a settlement of $1.1 million dollars for negligence and an additional $136,500 for workers’ compensation benefits.
You can see these settlements and more on our results page here. You can see what our clients are saying about us here or just check us out on Google.
MINTZ & GEFTIC – NEW JERSEY CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT LAWYERS
All construction accident and construction injury cases require NO FEE unless we are successful in securing you a recovery to compensate you for your injuries and pain and suffering.
We give personal attention to all of our clients. If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident or from a dangerous fall, call the best New Jersey lawyers today at 908-352-2323.
If you were injured working call us or text us today at 908-352-2323. If you prefer contacting our injury lawyers via email, please click here.
Our injury lawyers serve clients throughout New Jersey. This includes the cities of Newark, Elizabeth, Union, Short Hills, Millburn, Livingston and Jersey City. We cover Morris, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties. Our accident lawyers have offices in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Short Hills, New Jersey and in New York City.
We represent clients suffering with spinal cord injury, back injury, burn injury, broken bones and traumatic brain injury.
If you are enduring physical pain and suffering, mental pain and suffering, permanent disability, disfigurement, lost wages, medical expenses or any other hardship resulting from an accident please contact us today for a free consultation.
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