In the past year and a half, more than half a dozen construction site accidents occurred in the Boston area, resulting in several construction workers’ injuries and deaths.
The most recent construction site accident happened June 9th in Boston’s Seaport district when heavy street curbing material fell and crushed a construction worker. News sources say that the incident occurred around 5am when the victim was working around an area where street curbing material was being unloaded. The heavy blocks became loose, crushing the man and resulting in his death.
Not long before that, in the beginning of May, two more incidents occurred at two separate construction sites around Boston. Both incidents resulted in worker injuries.
On May 4th, at an old power plant building construction site, in South Boston, a catwalk collapsed sending three workers to the hospital, one with life-threatening injuries.
Just one day after that, on May 5th, a worker at a construction site in Boston’s South End fell 30ft and suffered injuries.
Suffolk Construction was the contractor of both construction site projects where injuries occurred in May. In response to these back-to-back incidents, Suffolk Construction issued a two-day Safety Standdown, to put a halt to all their construction projects. The company noted that the “Safety Standdown will include a comprehensive review and evaluation of existing safety standards and procedures.”
Additionally, back in March another construction site incident occurred at a Government Center parking garage where demolition was being conducted. The victim was working in a construction vehicle when part of the structure beneath him collapsed causing the vehicle to fall from the side of the building, resulting in the worker’s death. Another worker was also injured and hospitalized as a result of this accident.
In the year leading up to these construction site accidents, three other accidents occurred, resulting in the workers’ fatalities. These accidents include an employee who tumbled down a stairwell shaft at a construction site in East Boston, a worker killed by a collapsing stairwell in East Cambridge, and two employees that died after being knocked into a trench at a construction worksite in Boston’s Financial District.
In many of these incidents, OSHA, was involved in the investigations of what happened. OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration which has established standards put in place to protect workers on job sites from any variation of occupational injuries or fatalities that may occur. All employers are required to follow OSHA safety standards to help reduce the risk of employee injury and death. When these standards are not followed, there is an increased risk that employees will become injured due to unsafe practices, or unsafe jobsite conditions.
Construction sites often have multiple moving pieces; contractors, sub-contractors, site supervisors, workers, and any other third-party companies that may be involved. When injuries on construction sites occur, it may be the fault of the employer, or any party that is responsible for the safety of the jobsite, and they must be held accountable for any negligent actions that caused workers to become injured.
If you have any questions about potential unsafe conditions or have been injured while working on a construction site, please contact us at Diller Law, LLP, so one of our experienced lawyers may be able to help you.
Article sources:
https://www.enr.com/articles/54258-another-worker-dies-in-bostons-latest-construction-accident
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/05/06/recent-boston-construction-accidents/