Iron Worker Critically Injured After Falling 25 Feet in Construction Accident
Two more construction workers died at work this last week. This coming after the New York Times reported that thousands of construction workers gathered on April 29th to mourn the loss of 13 people who have been killed in New York construction accidents just this year. Only one day later, on April 30th, another construction iron worker fell 25 feet from a building under construction on East 29th street in Manhattan.
Authorities identified the worker as Christopher Gunn. According to the authorities Gunn, 28 was attempting to maneuver a twenty foot steel I-beam that was being lifted into place by a crane. The accident took place at approximately 8:30AM on April 30th. Gunn fell two stories after he slipped and fell from the building that is under construction between First Avenue and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. The fall caused Gunn’s safety helmet to fracture and left him on a concrete slab-unconscious, according to witnesses at the scene.
The Times indicated that the federal and city Occupational and Safety Administrations are investigating the cause of several fatal construction accidents in New York City. Acting buildings administrator, Robert D. LiMandri, taking the place of Patricia Lancaster who resigned last week under heavy construction safety scrutiny, indicated, “We are going to get to the bottom of it. Development must not take place at the expense of the workers building our city.”
Ironically, Gunn’s fall took place during Construction Safety Week. As of April 30th, 13 people had already died in construction accidents in New York. That figure amounts to one more death than was recorded for construction deaths in all of 2007.
According to Phil Russotti of the law firm Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP, construction has increasingly become a deadly business -- especially in New York, where laborers routinely dangle from skyscrapers, all part of a building boom that has defied the national slowdown...
..."The regulations are there," said Philip Russotti, a New York lawyer who represents workers Mr. Russotti obtained a verdict in excess of $18 million dollars on behalf of a 42 year old construction laborer and his wife.
You have a right to be safe in the work place. If you, your family, or a friend, have been seriously hurt in an accident because of the negligence of your employer, please call the law firm of Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP for a free consultation.
