Brooklyn Fatal Construction Accident
A construction worker was killed in a New York City construction site accident after he plunged five stories when part of a scaffold collapsed in Brooklyn. According to a news article in the Insurance Journal, the worker had been resurfacing bricks on an apartment building's façade when the accident occurred. The 42-year-old man was moving from one scaffold to another when the second scaffold collapsed. While one man fell, two other workers clung to the tilted scaffold and were later rescued by firefighters.
Scaffold accidents can cause serious injuries and even fatalities, as in this New York construction accident. New York Labor Law Section 240 (1) states: "All contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work, in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices which shall be so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to a person so
employed."
This law imposes strict liability on both the contractor and the property owner for ladder and scaffold accidents. The law also enables injured workers to secure the compensation they desperately need after suffering such devastating injuries. However, insurance companies and your employer or a third-party contractor's lawyer will do everything they can to reduce your damages and may try to present your injuries as more minor than they really are. Please do not let this happen to you. Get an experienced New York construction accident attorney who has successfully handled ladder and scaffold accident cases on your side. Contact the skilled New York personal injury lawyers at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro LLP. We will remain on your side, fight for your rights and help you get the compensation you rightfully deserve.
Source report: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2009/08/20/103160.htm