Fall From Height

Construction Accident – Fall from Height – Transcript

A couple years ago I represented a young man, 32 years old.  He worked for a company that erected steel sound stages in theaters and arenas, concerts, and he was engaged in putting together one of these and as part of his job, he was required to climb up part of this steel structure as it was under construction, about fifteen feet.  He was not provided, as he should have been, with a safety harness.  They did not take the time to have some sort of netting underneath him which could have been available and they were in a hurry to finish this project, and against the recommendations of some of the people on the job, they didn’t provide him with a bucket truck.  And what happened is because he didn’t have this, and as part of what he was doing he lost his footing, through no fault of his own, and he fell approximately fifteen feet to the concrete below – very seriously injured, shattered both his legs, shattered his pelvis, shattered his wrist, broke his ribs, was hospitalized for over a month and a half, and we had a twofold job.  One was to get him medically back as best as the doctors could, and our job was to help him from a legal perspective using the New York State Labor Law.

He was a young man with a family, and a wife, and was very good at what did, but it was quite clear well into his treatment, he was never going to return to that type of work.  His injuries were too severe.  He was going to have permanent and lifelong implications from those injuries, and our job was to make sure, utilizing the law, that this young man and his family were fully and adequately compensated for the injuries that he sustained; injuries that could have been avoided, and to make sure that his family and himself were taken care of, both in terms of his future medical care and his future livelihood because it was quite clear he was never going to return to the type of work he did.  The type of work he enjoyed.

There are many of these instances and many of these stories I could relate to you because they unfortunately happen all the time.  Safety is not given the attention that it should very often on construction sites.  There are deadlines and pressures that are put on these hardworking men and women that unfortunately too often result in these type of terrible, but avoidable accidents.  So if you or someone you should know should ever find themselves in those kind of terrible circumstances, feel free to call me.  I’ve been practicing in this area of law for over thirty years.  I’d be happy to fully discuss it with you and to make sure that the benefits that are there under the law are provided to you or to your loved ones if, unfortunately, that would become necessary.