A few miles northeast of New York City, a hearing will be held today regarding the fatal injuries a construction worker sustained in 2010 as he was helping build a Greenwich, Connecticut, home.
The immigrant worker died while working on a $1.14 million renovation project in November when the construction accident occurred.
The man was standing in a seven-foot-deep trench, power-washing the stone foundation of the home. Several critical elements were missing, however, according to court documents: the worker had not been provided a helmet, there was no escape ladder in the trench and the walls of the trench had not been reinforced.
The man’s life was taken when the front porch and the foundation beneath it gave way, and the porch toppled into the trench, on top of the worker.
He sustained “massive head injuries,” according to the documents.
The plaintiff in the suit alleges that Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards and work safety codes were violated and ignored on the site.
The plaintiff notes that immigrant workers often are employed in the riskiest of jobs. One example given was from a study in New York City of fatal construction accidents. In 21 of 29 of those tragedies, the workers involved “were immigrants or had limited English proficiency.”
Our readers might remember one such case involving a pair of brothers from Ecuador. They were washing windows on a New York high-rise when their scaffolding collapsed. The two men fell 47 stories. One of the brothers actually survived that fall, though he “was gravely injured.”
A construction worker injured on the job in New York should contact an attorney who can help ensure that the injured person receives full and fair compensation.
Source: Greenwich Patch, “Hearing Set In Case Involving Worker’s Death,” Feb. 18, 2013
- Our firm represents New York City construction workers injured on the job.