Massachusetts Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog

Last Friday around 3pm, the fire department responded after reports of a collapsed structure at a construction site on Hawaii’s North Shore near Chun’s Reef.

Initially, the firefighters had expected to free a trapped person, but when they arrived at the scene of the accident, they discovered that the victim, a man in his 60s, was already freed.

He was treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital.

"The initial report was there was a person that had been trapped by some collapse during a building construction project of a residential nature," said a fire department representative. "But before we even got there he was freed — how, I don't know. But we assessed that no other companies were needed."

Minor injury from North Shore construction accident, Honolulu Advertiser, October 24, 2008

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Last week, investigators identified the victim of a fatal construction accident in Clifton Park, New York. The accident victim was Brett Peck, 20, of Lennox, Massachusetts. Peck was installing a drainage pipe behind a home last Monday when the walls of a ditch collapsed, burying him alive.

Peck’s coworker, who had stepped from the work site for a moment, returned and discovered the drainage ditch accident. The Massachusetts construction worker was already dead by the time rescuers uncovered his head and shoulders. Unstable soil made it difficult for emergency crews to remove the victim’s body, but they were successful after several hours.

Federal safety regulations require construction workers to use a trench box to prevent a collapse. Representatives from the US Occupation Safety and Health Administration are investigating the construction accident to determine if these safety requirements were followed.

Worker killed when ditch collapses at NY job site, Associated Press, October 21, 2008

Worker killed in construction accident identified, CapitalNews9.com, October 21, 2008

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Earlier this fall just, a crane fell on a new middle school under construction in Rhode Island. The crane operator was warming up the machine when the boom fell onto exposed steel beams.

Fortunately, no one else was in the structure and none of the construction workers were injured. In the weeks preceding this incident, the United States experienced several crane accidents that left nine construction workers dead. In response to those accident, New York City’s Buildings Department had just issued guidelines on crane safety.

According to a spokesperson from the school construction site, the 290,000 square-foot project is big enough that crews can continue working on other parts of the building while the damaged steel beams are replaced.

On the Monday following the construction accident, investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the job site.

Crane Falls on Rhode Island School under Construction, InsuranceJournal.com, October 2, 2008

Another crane topples on US building site, Building.co.uk, October 2, 2008

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In Waltham, Massachusetts at the campus of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, a hydraulic lift fell and killed a construction worker. The construction site accident seriously injured another worker, who was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Waltham police said the hydraulic lift accident occurred just after 11am on October 10, when the lift collapsed, plunging the men about 30 feet. Peter Marchese, 40, died at the scene of the job site accident. The other injured worker will not been identified until police notify the 30-year-old’s family.

According to a joint statement released by AstraZeneca and Bovis Lend Lease, a project management and construction company at the job site, the two men were working on the expansion of a research and design facility, which was scheduled for completion in 2009. The workers were employed by Lymo Construction Co. in Merrimack and had been installing metal plates on the side of the building when the construction accident occurred.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is leading an investigation with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, the Waltham Police Department, and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

1 killed, 1 hurt in accident at job site, Boston Globe, October 11, 2008

Nashua man killed in construction accident, The Union Leader, October 11, 2008

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Employers who pay workers under the table or misclassify them as contractors make up a big part of the construction and trades industry, according to a forum held at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Worker and business representatives met with representatives from several state agencies to discuss the Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification.

The economic reality of employers hiring subcontractors who then subcontract to others or resort to illegal hiring practices makes it difficult for construction businesses to compete in the residential market, according to David S. Klein, president of an architectural metal and roofing contractor in Worcester.

In this underground economy, some companies pay construction workers in cash so that they can save on taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, and health insurance.

A Harvard University study conducted in 2004 estimated that about 125,725 Massachusetts workers (including over 7,000 construction workers) were misclassified as independent contractors between 2001 and 2003. The study also estimated that employers could be denying the state up to $91 million in workers’ compensation payments.

Skirting of state hiring laws focus of forum, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, September 23, 2008

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In Westford, Massachusetts, a quarry worker died on the job after a giant metal plate pinned him underneath. The metal had been dropped by an excavator.

Manuel Neves, 62, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was using a machine that recycled large concrete blocks when the Massachusetts quarry accident occurred.

Neves was working for Boston Power and Crushing. He died from injuries sustained in the accident. Federal safety inspectors were called in to investigate the accident.

Pawtucket man killed in quarry accident, Eyewitnessnewstv.com, October 10, 2008

Metal Plate Crushes Westford Worker To Death, WBZTV.com, October 3, 2008

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In Woburn, Massachusetts, Police Chief Philip Mahoney and on-duty officers had to restore order on Tuesday when about 50 off-duty officers from Woburn and nearby towns protested the use of civilian flaggers at roadside construction projects.

A new rule went into effect earlier this week which reclassified Massachusetts Highway Department projects into a three-tiered system and allowed for the use of civilian flaggers in lieu of police officers in some areas. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who issued the new rules, said that police officers are not needed at all roadside construction sites and that the old system added unnecessary expense. Police officers earn $30-45 per hour, which flaggers are paid about $15-26 per hour.

The protestors parked on a state highway and entered a posted work zone, which are both illegal. They interrupted the work of a road maintenance crew and heckled the flaggers. One officer went so far as to drive down the street against the flow of traffic, claiming a flagger had misdirected him. The off-duty officers were instructed to stay out of the way of the crews clearing catch basins.

Mass. police officers protest civilian flaggers, Associated Press, October 8, 2008

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In Boston, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) officials say the agency has suspended several bus and trolley drivers for texting or talking on their cell phones while on the job. Since May 28, when a trolley crash in Newton killed a driver, the MBTA has suspended nine employees. Their suspensions range from three to ten days, which is the maximum punishment short of termination.

A train accident in California last month reminded the public of the dangers of distracted train operators. Federal investigators went public with their finding that a train operator had sent a text message just 22 seconds before he collided with an oncoming train, killing 25 people. Last week, a Green Line trolley operator lost his job after he was captured on camera with his son and nephew at the controls of the train.

Rene Mardones, a community organizer for the T Riders Union said he agrees with the MBTA’s decision to crack down on cell phone use. “It’s going to improve the performance of the drivers because they’ll be more focused on what they’re supposed to do.”

T suspends 9 drivers for using phones, Associated Press, October 3, 2008

MBTA suspends 9 for cell phone use, Boston Herald, October 3, 2008

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The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the family of the Jamaica Plain woman crushed in the 2006 Big Dig ceiling collapse will receive over $28 million. Milena Del Valle was killed while driving down Interstate 90 with her husband on July 10, 200. Concrete panels weighing 26 tons fell from the ceiling of the connector tunnel and crushed the 38-year-old mother to death.

Investigations of the construction site accident revealed that it was the result of several failures, which some authorizes are calling deliberate negligence. The National Transportation Safety Board criticized the epoxy vendor, the firm which designed the tunnel’s ceiling, the company which installed the bolts, and the construction company for not taking steps to prevent the ceiling collapse.

Within two months of their mother’s death, the family had filed wrongful death suits in against 18 defendants in Suffolk Superior Court. Yesterday’s agreement with the last and largest of those defendants will bring the lawsuit to a close.

According to the family’s lawyers, Denner & Pellegrino, LLP, the Del Valle family accepted a settlement totaling $18.1 million from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the construction contractor, the project manager, and six other companies associated with the Big Dig. Previously, they had settled with two other defendants for $10 million.

Family gets $28M in Big Dig settlement, Boston Globe, September 30, 2008