The wife of a man who was killed in a Florida construction accident filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for her husband’s wrongful death. The lawsuit names at least four different defendants, including a coworker, a construction company, an equipment rental company and a molding company. The accident happened while two workers were attempting to replace some condominium moldings that had been damaged by woodpeckers. One of the workers was driving a forklift, lifting the other up into the air so he could reach the moldings to work on them. While in the air, the worker made contact with some power lines and both men were electrocuted.
According to an analysis of records kept by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the construction company and the molding company were were found to have safety violations. There were seven fatal workplace accidents in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan statistical area during the year 2012, ranking it alongside Tallahassee and North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota.
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach was the most dangerous MSA; it saw 66 fatal occupational injuries in 2012. More than 200 fatal occupational injuries occur statewide each year, a significant improvement over years passed. Nationwide, the rate is down more than 65 percent since 1970. The U.S. averaged 38 worker deaths each day in 1970; in 2012 the number was down to 12.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the construction company failed to adequately train the forklift driver and that the forklift driver failed in his duty to operate the forklift safely. It also alleges that the equipment rental company negligently delivered the forklift to an unsafe location, among other things. In a case like this, a construction accident attorney may arrange for the presentation of expert testimony regarding dangerous working conditions, for example, or appropriate safety training requirements.
Source: News-Press.com, “Danger still lurks for workers, reports show“, Andrea Rumbaugh, June 01, 2014
