The urban landscape of New York City is perpetually in flux. At all times of year and any time of day construction workers, craftsmen, city employees, and contractors can be found on the job, doing their best to keep the city growing in a safe and successful way. However, these industrial and construction jobs come with a heightened level of risk for those on the work site. In such situations, it is the responsibility of foremen, managers, and employers to make sure that the environment their employees work in is as safe as possible.
Of course, accidents will always be a reality of any construction site. However, a great many of those that befall New York, New Jersey, and other east coast workers turn out to be quite preventable. All too often, regulations and precautions are ignored in the name of expediency and profit margin. This may have been the case in a recent Bronx construction accident that left one worker dead and many questions unanswered.
An engineer who had been inspecting a pedestrian span in the Bronx was killed last month after he fell off the bridge. Plummeting 100 feet, the 54-year-old Bridgewater, New Jersey man had been examining what is known to many as High Bridge, which reaches across the Harlem River to connect upper Manhattan to The Bronx.
Reportedly the man had been working with a construction company that was prepping major renovations to the pedestrian bridge. The tragic fall left the man on dirt ground near the Metro-North tracks. Other crew members working with the man were unsure of how the fall came about.
Fatal construction accidents always come as a shock to a victim’s family, coworkers, and friends. However, while personal and communal recovery from the loss of a loved one is always the first priority, families should be aware that the losses that result from a deadly workplace accident can stretch on for years, even decades. The help of an attorney and a strong wrongful death claim can help to great assuage some of these financial hardships and bring a degree of justice and closure to the bereaved.
Source: New York Post, “Worker in fatal bridge plunge,” Ikimulisa Livingston and Kristan Conlay, Jan. 16, 2013