Articles Posted in Construction Site Injuries

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skycrane-1558013-300x225If you are a South Florida resident, particularly of Miami, you are well aware of the city’s on-going, and seemingly never-ending, construction.  In fact, construction all over the United States has been booming for the past several years, and 2017 is no exception. While cities like New York and Chicago have maintained their long-standing reputation as construction capitals, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle, are just recently joining the ranks.  Although the increase in construction across the U.S. means more jobs and well-developed cityscapes, unfortunately it also means a higher chance of construction-related accidents and injuries.

Common construction-related accidents involve falls, being struck by an object, electrocutions, and being caught in between equipment.  The construction industry experienced its biggest loss in 2015 as fatal construction injuries rose by 2 % since 2008.  The number continues to rise each year.

Earlier this year, in May, a construction worker was hospitalized after falling three to four floors down a building shaft in Downtown Miami.  Before that, one construction worker was killed and another injured after being hit by a Metromover car while on the job.  Then, on June 1, three construction workers in northwest Miami-Dade were seriously injured after two crane lifts fell.  The specific cause of injury in all three incidents was undetermined.

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Miami-Dade County has been rated one of the fastest growing markets for construction  for several years now, largely due to the building boom in Downtown Miami and Brickell. While this is great for the local economy there are also some risks. Recently an elevated construction boom struck a Metromover rail car in Downtown Miami, killing a construction worker and injuring another. Luckily, no passengers were on the Metromover at the time because it was late and the car was doing a maintenance run.

While that fatal collision was preventable it is unfortunately not uncommon, particularly in cities with a lot of ongoing construction. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that there are over 4500 workplace fatalities each year; nearly all of them preventable. In fact, OSHA estimates about 150 worker deaths per day, meaning by the time you finish reading this article, someone will have lost their life at work. An even greater number of people are seriously injured at work, resulting in over a million incidents every year serious enough to require time away from work to recover.

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Dressers leading to the death of small children sounds like a bad horror film. However, this unfortunate series of events has been a reality for at least three families so far. Sold in several small pieces requiring extensive instruction and a bit of time are the typical furnishings purchased from the Swedish company, IKEA.

IKEA is a leading furniture seller across the world and valued itself at over 11 billion dollars in 2012.1  IKEA has been aware of the danger posed by the dressers and made a first attempt to remedy the defect by providing kits to every purchaser of the dressers with instructions to secure the dressers to the walls where they will stand. Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem and another infant death followed. After tragedy struck again IKEA made the decision to recall the dressers. The IKEA website describes the recall as follows.

The recall affects children’s chests and dressers taller than 23.5 inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29.5 inches … manufactured and sold through June 2016 and include the 3-drawer, 4-drawer, 5-drawer and 6-drawer models. Other IKEA chests and dressers in this recall were sold at various times through June 2016.”

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Someone rear ends you or hits you as your driving down the street. At the moment you don’t notice any pain or obvious injuries but as the weeks go on you notice discomfort in your neck, back, knees or other parts of your body. A common misconception among those injured in auto accidents in Miami is if they do not make the claim for injuries immediately after reporting the accident they are barred from recovery for injuries developed or intensifying in the future. Or you notice that the auto shop you took your car to for repairs did not adequately or completely make the fixes to your vehicle. These situations are common in the Miami- Dade, Coral Gables and all other surrounding areas in South Florida.

Every state has a statute of limitations that dictates how long a party has to bring a claim against those that injured them or breached the contract or duty owed to them. In Florida the statute of limitations includes but is not limited to the following:

Injury to Person 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(o)
Libel/Slander 2 yrs. §95.11(4)(g)
Fraud 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(j)
Injury to Personal Property 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(h)
Professional Malpractice 2 yrs.; Medical: 2-4 yrs. §95.11(4)(a) and (b)
Trespass 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(g)
Contracts Written: 5 yrs. §95.11(2)(b), 1 yr. specific performance§95.11(5)(a)Oral: 4 yrs. §95.11(3)(k)
Judgments 20 yrs. domestic §95.11(1); 5 yrs. foreign judgment §95.11(2)(a)

From: http://statelaws.findlaw.com/florida-law/florida-civil-statute-of-limitations-laws.html

For a more complete list of the applicable statute of limitations in Florida see Florida Statute 95.11

Statutes of limitations involve many exceptions and cross reference with other applicable Florida laws. To assist in what can be a difficult area to understand and navigate the Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers at Friedland | Carmona are ready and eager to assist you immediately. Having a lawyer familiar with this area of law and experienced in handling all types of cases can make all the difference in the outcome of your claim.

The South Florida personal injury attorneys at the Friedland | Carmona handle all types of negligence, product liability, personal injury, negligent security, slip/trip and fall, and car accident cases throughout the state of Florida, including Boca Raton, Homestead, North Miami, South Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Pembroke Pines, Hialeah, Kendall, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach. The Friedland | Carmona handles all types of personal injury cases, including dog bites, wrongful death, defective products, medical malpractice, slip and falls, negligent and reckless drivers, and automobile and motorcycle accidents. Call the Miami personal injury attorneys today and let our family take care of your family.

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Personal injury law is utilized when someone causes physical harm to another and the injured wants to be made whole or compensated for that injury. The experienced attorneys at Friedland | Carmona provide free consultations to those who believe they may have a case and are seeking more information on the options available to them. Examples of situations when people normally seek personal injury lawyers in Miami, Coral Gables, and the surrounding areas include but are not limited to:

Auto accidents,

Trip and falls/slip and fall: There are many dangerous conditions like torn carpeting, changes in flooring, poor lighting, narrow stairs, or a wet floor can cause someone to slip and be injured. Same goes if someone trips on a broken or cracked public sidewalks, or falls down a flight of stairs. In addition, a slip and fall case might arise when someone slips or falls outdoors because of rain, ice, snow or a hidden hazard, such as a pothole in the ground. In any event, the plaintiff must have sustained some kind of injury, however minor, in order to collect, http://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/slip-and-fall-accidents-overview.html

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A truck driver died early Monday at the construction site for the new San Francisco 49ers stadium when he was crushed by a bundle of rebar being unloaded from his truck. The worker was the second worker to die at this construction site in less than six months. Construction at the new $1.2 billion stadium was halted on Monday as police and fire investigators attempted to determine the cause of the accident; work was slated to restart Tuesday.

According to a spokesman for Turner/Devcon, the construction company building Levi’s Stadium, the severely injured worker was rushed to a local hospital by ambulance, but was later pronounced dead. Spokesman Jonathan Harvey expressed his condolences for the family of the worker. He further stated that that he was informed on Monday that although workplace safety officials will be continuing their investigations, which could take months, “the jobsite has been deemed safe and is permitted to reopen.”

The man who was killed has been identified as sixty-year-old Edward Erving Lake II. He was an employee of a subcontractor working on the stadium, Gerdau Ameristeel’s Napa Reinforcing Steel facility. Sixty-three-year-old Donald White, an elevator mechanic, was killed in June at the stadium when he was struck by a counterweight while working in an elevator shaft. The new stadium construction is supposed to be finished in July 2014, and crews have been working very hard to meet that deadline. According to officials, “the accelerated work plan involves a highly coordinated scheme to maximize efficiency and avoid delays.”

2nd worker dies at 49ers stadium construction site, www.palmbeachpost.com October 15, 2013

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 Two road workers in Tampa were struck by a car last Tuesday in the early morning hours while working along Tampa’s Dale Mabry Highway. The workers are now recovering from injuries sustained in the accident. A silver car driving down the highway veered off the road, jumped a curb, and hit the workers. Another worker witnessed the crash and attempted to chase after the automobile. However, the car sped away before police arrived on scene.

According to police, the third worker was able to obtain a partial license plate number. All three of these workers are employed by Stripe-A-Lot Paving. The company subcontracts with the City of Tampa. The names of the workers who were injured are Michael Madson and Craig Walls. Walls was treated at the scene of the accident. Madson was transported to Tampa General with minor injuries, including bruises and bumps. Authorities are still searching for the silver vehicle that struck and injured these workers.

2 Tampa road workers injured in hit-and-run, www.palmbeachpost.com September 10, 2013

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A South Florida construction worker died Monday morning after he fell from the seventh floor of the BrickellHouse construction site. Twenty-nine-year-old Corence Lawrence Gumbs fell from his worksite on the seventh floor of the building located at 1300 Brickell Bay Drive around 7:15 a.m. The cause of the fall is still under investigation. Miami Fire Rescue spokesman Lt. Ignatius Carroll stated that “the situation was pretty bad” when rescue crews arrived on scene. Gumbs was not speaking and was barely breathing.

Gumbs was in critical condition when he was transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. BrickellHouse stated that the incident is under investigation and that its employees are fully cooperating in that process. According to the company, it makes workplace safety a top priority and it will continue working with authorities to uncover the details of the accident as soon as possible.

Worker dies after falling from Brickell construction site, www.miamiherald.com May 14, 2013

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Seven people were injured after a crane collapsed at a construction side near the East River in New York City last Wednesday. Of the seven injured, three victims needed to be extracted from beneath the fallen machinery. They suffered a range of injuries, including several broken bones, but none suffered from life-threatening injuries.

With popping cables and snapping metal, the crane toppled over around 2:30 in the afternoon. One witness stated, “Once that snap came, that was it. I just heard guys yelling, “Run, run!” Another witness noted, “I saw the cable whipping toward the deck…You could just hear it buckling.” The impact shook the scaffold where the witness was standing, while the crane cut down the framework of the building.

Engineers are investigating the cause of the crash, which happened at the construction site for a new twenty-five story apartment building. The building, being by residential and commercial real estate developer and property management company, TF Cornerstone, is in shambles. The crane was leased by subcontractor New York Crane and Equipment Corporation.

Cranes have been a concern for many New York City construction sites even since two giant rights collapsed months apart in Manhattan in 2008 and killed nine people. New York Crane owned one of the cranes involved in the 2008 accidents as well. The accidents led to new safety measures, including the hiring of more inspectors and the expansion of training requirements and inspection checklists.

NYC crane collapses at construction site; 7 hurt, www.miamiherald.com January 09, 2013.

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Four men were working aboard a ship docked in the Port of Tampa when pipes came crashing down onto them. The four men were working as stevedores for the International Longshoreman’s’ Association when the accident occurred. They were located at the bottom of the ship’s cargo hold and were bundling steel pipes. The pipes were to be lifted by a crane, but the strap on the bundle broke and the pipes came crashing down into the men.

One of the men, fifty six year old Hercules Gilmore died as a result of the accident. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man, whose name has not been released, was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The other two men were not injured.

2 rescued, 1 killed on ship from fallen pipes, www.miamiherald.com October 23, 2012.

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