Are Some Accidents Just Accidents?
Yet another fatal construction accident took place in New York City this month as a building maintenance worker fell 30 feet from a ceiling he was repairing on Third Avenue in Midtown. The worker fell from a loading dock lift and proceeded to strike his head on a garbage compactor below. According to a friend of the worker, the man was simply reaching for a light switch when he fell, and the friend classified the incident as a “freak accident”. But in reality, do freak accidents really exist? Even a benign accident of this nature could mean that safety codes were not taken into consideration in the area of the accident. Jeffery Lichtman, senior partner at Trolman, Glaser, and Lichtman, weighs in on the nature of such accidents:
As shocking as a story like this may initially appear to be, the reality is that these kinds of “freak accidents” occur in our city quite frequently. The simple fact that this building maintenance worker was inside a loading dock area and was able to fall out while reaching for a light is indicative of improper safety regulations.
From the investigations thus far, it is unclear exactly who was at fault here, but given my own experience with these kinds of accidents, it is typically due to a failure to adhere to the mandates of the labor law of the state of New York.
