South Florida Injury Attorney Blog

A construction worker died hours after a crane collapsed at a seawall project in Lighthouse Point, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported June 17. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident that killed Albert “Tiger” Phillips, a 43-year-old father of three. A representative from OSHA’s Fort Lauderdale office declined to comment on the matter, but told the Sun-Sentinel that this is the third workplace death of 2009 for Broward County.

Phillips was helping to build a seawall on the North Grand Canal June 16 when a crane collapsed onto his legs, pinning him to the ground. Co-workers pulled the crane off, and Phillips flashed them a thumbs-up sign as he left in an ambulance, suggesting he was okay. But a few hours later, the Sun-Sentinel reported, he was dead of unspecified injuries. Work was cancelled at the site June 17 in his honor.

As a Pompano Beach construction accident lawyer, I know that construction sites, with their heavy machinery and equipment, are some of the most dangerous civilian workplaces in America. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13 out of 100,000 construction workers died on the job in 2006; the most common accidents were falls or being struck by or against objects. Federal and state laws are supposed to help prevent accidents by setting safety standards for construction sites -- but due to carelessness or cost-cutting, those standards are too often ignored. The result can be death or permanent disability for workers who happened to be standing in the wrong place.

Victims of construction accidents, and their loved ones, still have rights. People who have suffered serious injuries or lost a loved one in a construction accident may hold the responsible parties legally liable for their actions with a Fort Lauderdale construction accident lawsuit. A lawsuit can help victims who are facing huge medical bills and other accident-related costs, right at a time when they are unable to work or have lost an income. It can also compensate victims for their non-financial but very real injuries, including a physical injury, pain, emotional trauma, and any permanent disability or wrongful death that results.