Load falling from crane kills construction worker

A construction worker in Michigan was killed in a crane accident when a load dropped from a crane and killed him while he was working on a job site.  The load of roofing material was being moved as part of a project for an addition to the children's hospital in Ann Arbor.

This kind of wrongful death construction accident should never occur.  There are a couple of construction safety issues which jump out at me as an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer who has handled many construction accident cases:

• First, loads should never be lifted unless they are properly secured.  There is no reason for a load to fall while in transit, ever.  The rigging crew must know how to properly secure a load before the lift begins.  This is something for which there is no exceptions.
• Second, the area beneath the left should have been clear of personnel while the lift was going on.  This is an issue of coordinating the work properly, which is a responsibility which falls to the general contractor on the site.  Further, the crane operator should have recognized that there was safety hazard due to men working below and should have stopped the lift until the area below was clear.

It appears from this news story that this was a very preventable construction accident.  Making sure that a hazardous operation like lifting materials with a crane in a crowded job site is one which must be done safely and this kind of overall job site safety falls to the general contractor.  There is certainly a basis for proceeding with a third party liability lawsuit for this wrongful death construction accident.

Labels: construction accidents worker's compensation wrongful death lawsuits