Scaffold accidents are one of the most common reasons for serious and fatal injury among construction workers in New York City. There are special rules associated with scaffold accident compensation, so victims and their families should consult with a New York City scaffold attorney as soon as possible following an accident occurring.
Unfortunately, when scaffolding accidents occur, victims often experience very serious harm due to the nature of the incident. Just recently, for example, New York Daily News reported on two construction workers who fell from scaffolding on a Bronx construction site and who were left in critical condition.
Two Construction Workers Sustained Critical Injuries on a Bronx Construction Site
According to the New York Daily News, the two Bronx construction workers were performing work on a 12-story apartment building that is being constructed on Third Avenue near East 167th Street in Morrisania. At around 1:30 in the afternoon, the two men fell through some poorly-constructed scaffolding and fell 20 feet down to the ground below.
The construction workers were employed by a masonry company and they were working on the building’s face, installing stone slabs on the face of the building. They fell through the scaffolding because there were three wood planks missing from the area where they were standing. Both workers fell through the gap that was created in the scaffolding by the wooden board, sustaining serious injury.
Another man who was working on the construction site spotted the two men lying injured on the ground after the fall occurred. He indicated that one of the workers was bleeding from the head. Both of the men sustained injuries to the head and to the neck. They were rushed to the hospital, with a spokesperson from FDNY indicating that one of the two workers were considered to be in critical condition.
After the incident occurred, a partial stop work order was issued by the Buildings Department. The Buildings Department discovered that the scaffolding was not only missing planks — which was the direct cause of the accident — but that it was also lacking end railings. Workers were also unable to produce required scaffolding training cards to demonstrate they had undergone required training on best practices.
The owner of the masonry company indicated that the workers built the scaffolding themselves, but he insisted that the scaffold was safe because his workers were qualified. However, the building inspector indicated that the scaffolding was “weird” and was not up-to-code. Unfortunately, in this case, the consequences of this were very serious as two workers have now been left injured.
Incidents like this happen all-too-frequently, as working on scaffolding can be risky even in the best case scenario… and situations where scaffolding was not properly built are definitely not the best case scenario.
A New York City scaffold accident attorney can provide you with help if you or your loved one sustains an injury on scaffolding. You should contact an attorney as soon as possible for assistance after the incident occurs.
