New York City construction workers understand better than anyone how dangerous their work can be. Worksite accidents can happen in the blink of an eye, leaving behind injuries and fatalities.
Late last week, a Queens construction worker was killed when he fell through the floor of an apartment building and hit his head on a steel girder, according to media reports.
The 42-year-old was working on a site on Broadway near 45th Street at around four on Thursday afternoon. He plunged through a hole in the ground-level floor, falling 15 feet to the basement beneath, according to officials.
A worker who was on the scene said, “(a) steel girder hit him on the head.”
The injured man was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, but he died there of his injuries.
Work on the Astoria project was stopped by the city’s Department of Buildings and the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Both agencies are conducting investigations into the fatal mishap.
Last year, area residents complained that work on the site was destabilizing neighborhood building foundations, according to a media report.
A day before this accident, a College Point construction worker suffered serious injuries when he fell a dozen feet down an elevator shaft.
Statistics show that falls are a leading cause of construction injuries. Approximately 17 percent of all construction work-related fatalities in 2011 were caused by falls, with many involving a lack of fall protection or substandard scaffolding.
Falls can leave workers with a variety of serious and simultaneous problems, including serious injuries, mounting medical bills and a loss of income.
Workers’ compensation can help address these issues, but when a claim is turned down, it simply adds to the injured worker’s problems. However, an experienced workers’ comp attorney can help make an effective appeal of a denied claim so that full, fair compensation gets to the worker and family.
Source: New York Daily News, “Queens construction worker is dead in horrifying accident,” Jan. 24, 2013
- Our firm assists New York City construction workers injured on the job.