A worker was killed in a fatal falling objects accident in New York City late last month. The victim was working with a demolition crew on October 21st at a jobsite located at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side in Manhattan when tragedy struck. The crew was part of a team cleaning up the remains of a historic synagogue that had previously burned when a massive wall collapsed, trapping the victims under tons of rubble.
Two men were actually pinned under the wreckage but crews were able to pull one man out alive. That victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
The other victim was rescued by EMTS and rushed to nearby New York-Presbyterian Hospital where he later succumbed to his injures.
The Department of Buildings immediately shut the jobsite down and launched a full investigation. Under federal and state regulations, construction crews are required to follow certain protocols when working in or around damaged structures. New York’s Labor Law requires certain safety measures to be employed to keep workers out of harm’s way from accidents such as a wall collapse or debris falling from above. If the failure to utilize certain safety equipment contributed to this fatal accident, the property owner and general contractor in charge of the worksite would be held absolutely liable for the accident and for the worker’s pain and suffering and lost time from work from the time of the accident into the future.
Falling object accidents in New York City are among the most serious kinds of injurious workplace accidents. They often result in serious, life-threatening injuries including head trauma that can have lifelong consequences such as paralysis and brain damage even if they are not immediately fatal.
If you or a loved one has been injured by falling objects on a construction site, you need an experienced construction accident lawyer in New York City working to get you the compensation you deserve. Call the Law Offices of Nussin S. Fogel at 800-734-9338 and 212-385-1122 for your free consultation today.