A construction worker died late last month after a deadly fall from heights accident in New York City. The victim, a 32-year-old construction professional, was working on scaffolding at a job site in Queens on May 24th when he fell to the ground below. The accident happened at roughly 9:30 in the morning. Emergency crews were immediately summoned and arrived within minutes. They rushed the victim to nearby Mount Sinai Queens hospital in Astoria but his injuries proved too severe to overcome. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The New York City Department of Buildings immediately issued a stop work order for the construction site (located at 45-18 Court Square) and began an investigation into the fall. Reports state that the man fell approximately six stories to the ground after tumbling from the exterior scaffolding.
Official records show that the building in question currently has 16 open violations since November of last year, resulting in almost $50,000 in fines levied by the DOB.
While the existence of previous violations doesn’t necessarily mean that safety precautions were not taken in order to prevent this tragic fatal fall, under the New York Labor Law, the general contractor and property owner will be held absolutely liable regardless of the actions of the worker if it is found that certain safety equipment was not provided to the worker or that the safety equipment was not sufficient or failed.
In this case, the worker’s family can bring a claim against the general contractor for the project and the property owner for pain and suffering for the time the worker survived after the accident, medical and funeral expenses and for the amount of money the worker would have contributed to the family household during the course of his entire work life expectancy.
If you or a loved one has been seriously hurt at a construction site, contact an expert New York City fall from heights accident attorney today. Call The Law Offices of Nussin S. Fogel at 800-734-9338 or 212-385-1122 for your free consultation.