Man Crushed to Death in Workplace Accident
Nobody wants to be involved in a workplace accident, but the risk of getting injured or killed at work can be high, especially in certain industries. When machinery is involved, employees need to be on high alert. Just one moment of inattention can lead to a fatal accident.
Sadly, this was recently the case in New Jersey. A man from Somerset was killed while working at Fenix Auto Parts in Woodbridge, located on Leesville Avenue on the Woodbridge-Rahway border. The business is also known as Fenix Parts Rahway. The man was crushed to death on the morning of December 28.
The man was crushed by a loading ramp, but the exact details are unknown. The employee was underneath the ramp and it is believed that maybe a pin or stabilizer was removed. At some point, the ramp crushed him. The Woodbridge Police Department got there pretty quickly, but the man died at the accident scene.
The victim’s name could not be released, as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has now taken over the investigation. He was identified only as a 38-year-old man from Somerset.
Crush Injuries in the Workplace
According to OSHA, a crush injury can happen in the workplace when an employee’s body part is squeezed, pinched, caught, or compressed between objects. It is possible for a person’s entire body to get caught and crushed as well. Crush injuries are among the top four causes of employee fatalities on construction sites. Crush injuries can also occur in factories, warehouses, and on loading docks.
Crush injuries can happen in several main ways:
- A worker’s limbs, such as hands, fingers, arms, or legs get caught between moving parts of a machine or a heavy piece of equipment.
- A building collapses on top of workers.
- A driver or loading dock worker gets trapped between a wall and a truck, forklift, or another vehicle.
- A heavy object falls off a truck or drops from a crane and pins a worker to the floor.
Crush injuries tend to involve the crushing or fracture of a person’s bones. After such an event, a person can also develop crush syndrome, which results when the skeletal muscles are crushed as well. When these muscles are crushed, the circulation of blood to the muscles is cut off. This causes abnormally high levels of potassium, phosphorus, and myoglobin to be released into the body. This can cause the victim to go into shock or suffer kidney failure. They may also suffer:
- Nerve damage
- Skin damage
- Scarring
- Internal bleeding
- Organ damage
- Infection
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Severed limbs or amputation
Contact a New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyer Today
Accidents can happen at any workplace. When tractors and other machinery are involved, the risks are even higher.
A workplace injury can result in significant damages. Your life may change in many ways. Get the financial and legal help you need from a Morristown work-related accident attorney from The Law Offices of Michael P. Burakoff. Schedule a free consultation by calling (973) 455-1567 or filling out the online form.
Source:
patch.com/new-jersey/hillsborough/somerset-man-killed-loading-ramp-workplace-accident
