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Scaffolding danger, falls, hard hats and head injuries

On Behalf of | Dec 10, 2019 | Construction Accidents

Head injuries are a serious matter on any construction site. Hard hats offer protection but are not always worn.

The threat of falling construction materials is always present, and head injuries can happen to pedestrians as well as laborers.

A scaffolding incident in SoHo

If you are a resident of New York City, you may recall a scaffolding incident in 2017 in which six people sustained injuries. In November of that year, wind gusts up to 35 mph created construction hazards; the scaffolding on one job in the Soho district collapsed. The accident happened shortly before noon and first responders said it was fortunate that because the scaffolding fell over the subway entrance, no train had arrived. If one had, more pedestrians may have sustained injuries. As it was, one woman was walking past the construction area and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. She suffered a head injury when the scaffolding came down on top of her. An official from the New York City Fire Department explained that the wind gusts picked up a piece of plywood that “acted like a sail.” This was what brought the scaffolding crashing down. The injured woman was one of six people taken to the hospital that day.

Headgear for workers

Construction accidents can happen in a heartbeat. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 84% of all construction workers who suffer on-the-job head injuries are not wearing any head protection. Workers often remove their hard hats because they are too heavy, too hot or too uncomfortable because they do not fit properly. Newer hard hat models have four- and six-point strap suspension design to better distribute the weight. Employers have a duty to educate workers about the importance of head protection and to train employees in proper equipment use and maintenance.

Avoiding TBI

Falls are the main cause of traumatic brain injury; falls and construction work, unfortunately, go together. As the 2017 Soho incident illustrates, falling debris can also cause serious injuries, including concussion and more severe forms of TBI. The female victim was an innocent pedestrian and could not prevent suffering a head injury, but alert construction workers can follow safety precautions, including wearing protective hard hats.

Archives

Verdicts &
Settlements

$3.75 Million

settlement for a construction worker injured by falling metal mesh

Verdicts & Settlements

$3.5 Million

Million for a carpenter injured on a construction site by a falling metal clamp

Verdicts & Settlements

$3 Million

for a 35 year old Carpenter injured when his arm became partially impaled on an improperly exposed metal support (rebar) at a construction site.

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$2 Million

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries after being struck by a hit and run driver in Manhattan.

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$1.825 Million

Verdict for a 29 year old construction worker injured during the building of the World Trade Center Memorial.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.475 Million

for a Carpenter who was injured when the scaffold he was working upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete worker from Queens who sustained serious injuries to his back when he slipped on debris and refuse.

Verdicts & Settlements

$1.2 Million

for a Construction worker and young father in the Bronx who was fatally electrocuted while on a scaffold.

Verdicts & Settlements

$950,000

for two sisters in high school who sustained serious injuries when struck by a vehicle that mounted the sidewalk in Brooklyn as they waited for the bus to take them to school.

Verdicts & Settlements

$825,000

for a woman injured as a passenger in an accident involving a bus and a car in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$777,000

for an Ironworker on Long Island who sustained serious injuries when he fell from a ladder which slid out from under him due to icy footing.

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a surgeon who sustained a broken knee in a motor vehicle accident (January, 2017).

Verdicts & Settlements

$750,000

for a man severely burned in his apartment by excessively hot shower water (Sept. 2020).

Verdicts & Settlements

$660,000

verdict for a 35 year old Cement and Concrete laborer who was injured when the scaffold he was walking upon collapsed.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a cement and concrete worker who slipped and fell over construction debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$650,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker who injured his back as a result of slipping upon a discarded pipe and falling down a flight of steps.

Verdicts & Settlements

$500,000

for a Nursing Home resident injured due to lack of proper care.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a woman who sustained multiple serious injuries to her shoulder as a result of a trip and fall upon a defective sidewalk at a construction project in Manhattan.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

verdict in the exact amount demanded by our office for our client, but refused by the responsible defendants, was awarded by the jury to our client who sustained a fractured elbow as a result of a fall upon a badly broken sidewalk.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a young woman who sustained a fractured ankle as a result of a fall on soapy steps in her apartment building in the Bronx.

Verdicts & Settlements

$495,000

for a young mother who was struck by a car while crossing the street near her home in Queens sustaining serious injuries to her leg requiring the surgical placement of a metal plate and screws.

Verdicts & Settlements

$600,000

for a woman who sustained multiple injuries as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident.

Verdicts & Settlements

$425,000

was secured by our office for a Cement and Concrete worker injured when a work area collapsed beneath him.

Verdicts & Settlements

$400,000

for a woman struck from behind by a car as she walked to a supermarket in a shopping center parking lot in Yonkers.

Verdicts & Settlements

$200,000

for a young man, 15 years of age, who sustained a partial tear of the rotator cuff of his right shoulder, which has now healed without any limitation upon his activities.

Verdicts & Settlements

$325,000

for a school principal in the Bronx who tripped and fell over a construction plate in the school parking lot.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a young Cement and Concrete worker who was struck by falling debris dislodged from a building by a swinging crane.

Verdicts & Settlements

$250,000

for a Cement and Concrete worker injured as a result of a fall at a Manhattan construction site.

Verdicts & Settlements

$300,000

for a school teacher in the Bronx who sustained an injury to her shoulder when she tripped and fell due to negligently placed computer wiring.

Verdicts & Settlements

$275,000

to a Construction laborer doing bridge work whose arm was fractured when falling construction material caused him to fall into the East River and onto debris.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

for a child injured when a table fell on him in a laundromat in Queens.

Verdicts & Settlements

$450,000

verdict for a Volunteer Firefighter in Westchester who sustained injuries in the course of fighting a fire.

Verdicts & Settlements

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