A construction worker was rushed to the hospital after a ladder accident in Queens last month. The unnamed individual was working at a jobsite near 80th Street and Broadway, in Elmhurst, when he fell off a ladder, tumbling roughly 7 feet to hard concrete below. The jobsite is the future home of a 20-story apartment building owned by Friedland Properties.
EMS crews had a tough time getting to the victim because the ladder from which he fell was in the poured concrete foundation of the new building rather than on ground level. Responders from the FDNY rigged up a stretcher mechanism to haul the injured construction worker up, sliding him along one of their own ladders until crews at the top could grab on and hoist him the rest of the way.
Video recorded at the scene of the ladder accident shows the injured man being loaded into an ambulance while secured to a stretcher with a neck brace and other immobilizers to prevent any further injury. The worker was taken to nearby Elmhurst Hospital.
Ladder accidents in New York City can be deadly or have lifelong consequences. In fact, falls from ladders at job sites and from elevated platforms and scaffolding are two of the primary causes of head and neck injuries in construction workers. Such injuries can lead to death, paralysis, prolonged or permanent disability.
Workers who sustain injuries from falls from ladders or any other elevated platform such as a scaffold can sue for their injuries, unpaid medical bills and lost time from work – past, present and future. Under the New York Labor Law, if the fall from a height occurred due to a ladder, scaffold or any other elevated surface, the property owner and general contractor for the construction job can be held to be strictly liable regardless of whether the worker contributed to his accident.
If you have been injured in a fall at a construction site, regard of the reason, contact an expert New York City ladder accident attorney at the Law Offices of Nussin S. Fogel at 800-734-9338 or 212-385-1122 to learn your rights.