Arizona Construction Accident Lawyer Blog

Falls are among the most common causes for Arizona construction accident fatalities. Falls can also result in catastrophic injuries that could disable a construction worker for the rest of his life. Such situations may impose severe financial and emotional strain on workers and their families. Injured victims typically receive Arizona worker's compensation benefits. However, when there are major or catastrophic injuries that prevent the worker from returning to work, worker's compensation benefits may not be adequate enough to compensate for past and future lost wages, continued treatment or care, or medical bills.

A recent news article reported an incident where a worker fell 12 feet at a construction site. The incident happened when the man stepped backward and fell on to an unfinished basement floor. The construction worker sustained head and internal injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

Continue reading "Phoenix, Arizona Construction Site Injury Lawyer Addresses Serious Injury in Construction Site Fall" »

Trench collapses are one of the most common causes of construction site accidents in Arizona and elsewhere in the nation. According to a news report in the Shelby Star, a 30-year-old construction worker sustained fatal injuries after the dirt collapsed around him at a sewer line construction site. The man apparently fell into the hole. Workers rushed to dig him out of the collapsed trench. The worker was transported to an area hospital where he died shortly after the construction site accident.

Cave-ins are a deadly trenching hazard. There are also other dangers that lurk in trenches including asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen in a confined space, inhalation of toxic fumes, drowning, electrocution and explosions. In fact, the fatality rate for excavation work is 112 percent higher than the rate for general construction. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that workers in trenches and excavations be protected and that safety and health programs address the variety of dangers they face on the job. Trench collapses may be caused by lack of protective systems, unsafe access or exits, and failure to properly inspect the trench.

Continue reading "Injury Law Addresses Construction Site Trench Collapse Wrongful Death" »

Glendale, AZ construction accident attorneys and personal injury attorneys throughout the State of Arizona are extremely concerned about the increasing number of trench collapse accidents. These types of accidents can cause catastrophic injuries or death. A number of these trench cave-ins occur because construction companies fail to follow safety procedures or take preventive steps.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has fined a construction company about $55,000 for allowing a worker into a trench that was at risk of caving in, according to a recent news report. A federal inspector apparently found a construction worker in the 6-foot trench that had no safeguards in place to prevent a trench collapse. The trench had no ladder to facilitate an escape for the worker. Also, an excavator at the edge of the trench had caused soil and other debris to fall into the trench, OSHA officials said. The excavator operator was not wearing a high-visibility vest and the injury-and-illness log at the construction site was incomplete, which are also violations of federal standards.

Continue reading "Personal Injury Attorneys Help Workers Injured Due to Construction Negligence" »

Each year, a number of Arizona construction site fatalities and injuries occur due to falls. Recently, a construction worker was killed after he plunged three stories and landed on hard concrete. According to a news report, the fatal construction accident occurred at a residential site. The man died at the scene. It is not clear how or why the fatal fall occurred. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the cause of this accident.

According to the OSHA's web site, falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. An average of 362 fatal falls occurred each year from 1995 to 1999, a trend which is on the rise. In fact, falls from a higher elevation account for one-third of all construction accident deaths. It is extremely important that employers in the construction industry adopt safety and health programs to protect workers from falls on the job. Falls commonly occur at Arizona construction accident sites as a result of scaffold collapses, slip and falls, or structures being improperly secured or shored up.

Continue reading "Construction Site Injury Accident Fall Proves Fatal for Construction Worker" »

Working on and around ladders and stairways can be hazardous for Arizona construction site workers. In fact, stairways and ladders are among the major sources of injuries and fatalities for construction workers. Many of these injuries are serious enough to cause workers to take extended time off work. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has rules and standards that apply to all stairways and ladders used in construction jobs such as painting, repair and demolition. Serious ladder injuries, like many other types of construction site accident injuries, are preventable.

A recent news report describes an incident where a construction worker fell 25 feet from a ladder into a concrete vault that was being built on site. The construction worker was apparently conscious when crews arrived, but he was in a lot of pain from enduring serious injuries. No one saw the man fall off the ladder. The worker was said to have been lying there for about five minutes before he was found by his co-workers. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of serious personal injuries.

Continue reading "Ladder Fall at Construction Site Leads - Personal Injury Construction Lawsuit Possible" »

A number of Arizona fatal construction site accidents occur each year as a result of heavy falling objects. According to an ABC news report, a construction worker was recently killed after a heavy granite slab fell on top of him, pinning him underneath. The fatal construction site accident occurred when four workers were removing stone slabs out of the back of a tractor-trailer. One of the heavy slabs shifted and fell on top of the worker. The man was crushed to death. The local police department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating this fatal accident.

In this particular case, it is not clear how or why the stone slab fell on the worker. In such situations, it is important to look into whether the workers who were involved received proper training to conduct such work. It is also critical to examine whether these employees received safety training. In addition, it is not clear whether a forklift was used to do this job or whether the accident occurred as a result of "load shifting."

Continue reading "Phoenix Construction Accident Lawyers Help Victims Receive Fair Compensation" »

Arizona construction accidents often occur as a result of someone else's negligence. A construction site, simply because of the nature of the activity, is fraught with risk and danger. Unfortunately, these hazards can multiply very quickly when the people in a construction site lack the training, experience or the attention to detail, that they must have to conduct operations smoothly and safely.

A recent news article reported the death of a 58-year-old construction worker who fell to his death while helping build new dormitories on the campus of a university. The worker had apparently been walking up a slight incline when the operator of a forklift put the equipment in reverse and struck him. The man was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating this tragic incident.
According to the data compiled by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a government agency in the Department of Labor, forklift accidents claim 85 lives every year in the United States, while leaving 34,900 individuals with serious injuries and 61,800 individuals with minor injuries.

Continue reading "Construction Worker Killed in Forklift Accident" »

Falls at construction sites are responsible for a number of fatalities each year. According to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. An average of 362 fatal falls occurred each year from 1995 to 1999, a trend which is on the rise. In fact, falls from a higher elevation account for one-third of all construction accident deaths. It is extremely important that employers in the construction industry adopt safety and health programs that contain provisions to protect workers from falls on the job.

A recent news report talks about a worker who fell 20 feet from where he was working to a concrete floor. His foreman says that the worker is not expected to live for more than a few days. Apparently, this worker sustained catastrophic head injuries including a skull fracture when he fell. Falls at a construction site could occur as a result of unprotected sides, wall opening, floor holes, improper scaffold construction, unguarded protruding steel bars and misuse of portable ladders.

Continue reading "Construction Site Fall Causes Catastrophic Injuries" »

Many Arizona construction workers each year are crushed by falling equipment, struck by swinging backhoes, run over, or pinned between vehicles and site walls or other equipment. Construction equipment is so large and heavy that sometimes, the probability that it will crush more than one worker when it topples over is quite high. Any time when there is overhead work being performed, workers face the risk of being hit by falling objects, heavy machinery or equipment. Such accidents will almost always result in catastrophic injuries or death because of the largeness and heaviness of this type of equipment. Even hard hats or other safety gear are no match for these humungous pieces of machinery.

A construction worker recently died in a construction site accident when a 100-foot-tall lift fell on him, according to a Fox News report. Another worker sustained serious injuries in the accident. He was also hit by the lift as it fell. The workers were helping with construction work on a performing arts center when the tragedy occurred. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating this fatal construction accident.

Continue reading "Arizona Construction Accident Lawyers Can Help Injury Victims Obtain Fair Compensation" »

Arizona construction sites are required to comply with federal and state safety standards. These standards are there for a reason – to ensure the safety and well-being of workers. It is the employer's duty to make sure that the work site is safe and free of any hazards. If death or serious physical harm results from a hazard that an employer should have known existed at the site, the employer can be slapped with a violation and fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency that monitors and investigates all work-related accidents and injuries.

Recently, OSHA cited a bridge and tower painting company after a worker fell to his death while painting a bridge site. OSHA investigators found that the fatal construction site accident occurred because of a lack of fall protection, training deficiencies, machine guarding issues and scaffolding hazards. In such cases, companies have 15 business days from the receipt of the latest citations and proposed penalties to comply and participate in an informal conference with OSHA officials to contest or appeal the findings.

Continue reading "Company Cited by OSHA for Failure to Comply with Safety Standards" »

Scaffolding collapses can cause devastating injuries in Phoenix construction sites. Four construction companies are facing citations and hefty monetary penalties in connection with the deaths of three construction workers. Sadly, the deceased employees fell 100 feet to their deaths when the scaffolding they were working on failed and broke apart. According to a KVUE news report, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued citations and proposed penalties against the four construction companies that are working on the site.

The deaths were tragic indeed. But even more heart-wrenching is the fact that these three men could have been alive if only the scaffolding parts had been inspected and replaced or repaired as needed. One of the companies has been slapped with eight serious violations including one for failing to provide scaffolding capable of supporting four times the maximum load. Another company was cited for failing to provide a competent person to inspect a scaffold prior to use. Two other companies were cited for failing to provide adequate fall protection systems on scaffolds. The companies face nearly $160,000 in fines from OSHA.

Continue reading "Phoenix Construction Accident Attorneys File Personal Injury Claims on Behalf of Workers Injured in Scaffolding Accidents" »

Trench collapse accidents are among the most common types of construction site accidents that occur in Arizona and elsewhere in the nation. These accidents can result in devastating personal injuries or death to workers. However, the unfortunate fact is that these trench collapse accidents can be easily prevented by following the safety standards spelled out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which monitors and investigates workplace accidents and injuries in the United States including construction site accidents.

According to a recent news report, a worker sustained a fractured leg and a broken pelvis when a dirt trench wall fell on him when he was helping to put down concrete sewer pipes. The worker was trapped in the trench because of his injuries. He was safely removed from the trench and treated for serious injuries. OSHA officials are investigating this incident. Officials issued a citation to the contracting firm for a safety violation that resulted in the accident, specifically, the absence of shoring in the area of the trench where the dirt wall fell.

Continue reading "Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help Victims of Trench Collapse Accidents File Injury Claims" »