Workplace Injuries

• Decatur accident fatal for insulator

  Barry Doyle | March 28, 2007 10:49 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A contractor was killed at an Archer Daniels MIdland facility in Dectaur. The employee and his crew were working on isulation at the facility.In the accident, the worker was exposed to hot steam which resulted in burns to 87 percent of his body, which resulted his death.When contractors are working in facilties that have active systems, special care has to be made sure that the system is placed...

• Worker killed in fall down open air shaft

  Barry Doyle | March 28, 2007 9:28 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  In Buffalo, a construction worker fell 30 feet down an open air shaft. Guard rails had been put in place at the entry to the air shaft but were missing at the time of the fall.The worker sustained fatal injuries as a result of the fall.Floor openings such as the open air shaft pose a serious risk to workers on a construction site. Becxause of this, OSHA regulations require that openings such...

• Knowledge of hazards key to trench collapse prevention

  Barry Doyle | March 23, 2007 7:01 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  The foreman of a Texas plumbing crew admitted that he was not familiar with the federal regulations which are intended to protect workers against the hazards of a trench collapse. As a result, he sent his crew into a trench that had been dug three weeks earlier. Intervening rainstorms had weakened the walls of the trench, leading to a collapse which trapped one of his co-workers.The trapped...

• OSHA fines Texas demolition contractor $135,000

  Barry Doyle | March 14, 2007 11:11 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Texas demolition contractor has been fined $135,900 by OSHA after materials fell from the 19th floor of a building being demolished and struck two of the company's employees. The general contractor on the job site was also fined.The falling materials resulted in two workers suffering fatal injuries.The fines were issued for safety violations including failing to use an enclosed chute to drop...

• Worker injured in fall through floor hole

  Barry Doyle | March 13, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Massachusetts man was injured while working on the roof of an apartment. He fell through on open hole on the roof where he was working. When the building is completed duct work will pass through the hole.The man was airlifted from the scene suffering from traumatic cardiac arrest.Floor openings such as this pose a real hazard to construction workers who must work around them. People are...

• Belleville road construction accident injures several

  Barry Doyle | March 05, 2007 5:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  Several workers on a road construction project on Route 161 in Belleville were injured when a pick up truck left the roadway and hit an embankment where work was ongoing.At least three workers on the project were injured, one of whom suffered head injuries.On any road construction project, the general contractor has an obligation to ensure that the traffic flows are properly redirected from the...

• Workers injured when wall collapses

  Barry Doyle | February 20, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  Some Atlanta-area construction workers were injured when a wall collapsed. The project involved the expansion of a store in a local mall, and as part of the project wall was being taken down when it collapsed onto them.Two workers were injured. One suffered an injury to his wrist; the other a head injury.One of the basic principles of construction site safety is the proper scheduling and...

• Blasting accident causes injuries

  Barry Doyle | February 12, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  Blasting activities by a Nashville excavating company has injured three people. The explosion sent debris flying which struck people and buildings nearby.The work was ordered stopped, and could not be started again until a plan of correction was approved by the state fire marshall.Most construction accident cases are based on a negligence theory -- that one of the contractors on the project was...

• Laborer falls down elevator shaft

  Barry Doyle | February 06, 2007 3:00 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A laborer fell down an open elevator shaft on a New York construction project. There were no guardrails in place at the time of the fall.The laborer sustained fatal injuries.OSHA regulations require that guardrails be placed so as to prevent falls such as the one involved here. The specific responsibility for placing guard rails falls first to the contractor that opened up the shaft, then to...

• Excavation collapse injures worker

  Barry Doyle | February 04, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A construction crew in Idaho was working on a sewer expansion project. As part of the project they dug a 15- to 25- foot deep pit. One of the crew members was working at the edge of the excavation when it collapsed, pulling him down into the hole under the collapsing dirt.He was rescued by co-workers and was taken to the hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.This accident was the...