Equipment roll-over at construction site kills 1, injures another

Working at a construction site may be considered to be an inherently dangerous activity, and as we have noted on this blog before every year construction accidents in North Carolina take their toll of workers killed and injured on the job. Another construction worker has recently died in what his co-workers have described as a freak accident.

The incident took place in Wilkes County, North Carolina, when construction workers who were engaged in repaving work on a church parking lot were using heavy machinery to perform the task. It appears that when one such piece of equipment, a milling machine, moved close to a basement area a wall collapsed, which evidently caused the machine to overturn. One worker died immediately when the milling machine rolled over on top of him; the machine operator suffered minor injuries.

Accidents by their very nature may seem to be “freak” accidents, as they can happen with little or no visible or audible warning. Sometimes upon further investigation it may be determined that the accident was preventable but for negligence in the form of an action taken by someone, or the failure of someone to do something that he or she should have done to avoid it. It is too early at this point to determine whether any such factors contributed to the death in this instance.

Aside from questions concerning causation, another issue that will need to be addressed is whether the surviving family members of the deceased construction worker will be able to make a claim for wrongful death or workers’ compensation survivor benefits. Any time that workers’ compensation claims become an issue, it is often helpful to the prospective claimants to retain the assistance of a law firm to assist them in their efforts. Contact a Charlotte workers compensation attorney for help today.

Source: WXII, “Man dead in Wilkes Co. construction accident,” David Jeannot, Aug. 27, 2014