Injury Law Partners Recovers $4.7M for Construction Worker Struck with Steel Beam
Philadelphia-based Injury Law Partners (ILP) secured a $4.7 million dollar settlement for a client who was struck in the head by a falling 50-pound piece of steel on a construction site.
The case involved a worksite where multiple contractors were hired to perform construction services at a large industrial building, including the installation of a new HVAC system. Structural steel needed to be mounted to the interior ceiling of the building to support the weight of the new air conditioning units. Workers used an elevated platform to install the supporting steel.
The work of Injury Law Partners proved that the incident occurred due to unsafe work practices. ILP secured enough money at mediation to provide future medical care and financial security for the injured worker and his family.
When work is performed at height, workers must take precautions to protect others on the construction site from dropped objects. Proper safety requires fall prevention methods, including boards installed along the bottom edge of platforms to prevent tools and materials from being knocked off into unsuspecting workers. These boards are commonly referred to as “toe boards.”
Additionally, caution tape and warning signs are used to set up a danger zone under the elevated platform. The visual warning and physical barrier act to alert workers on the ground about the work occurring above and to prevent those workers from accidentally walking into an area where an object can be dropped on them.
Despite these requirements for a safe work site, the elevated platform only had guarding on three of its four sides. On one side of the platform, there was an 11-foot gap with no toe boards. Further, workers did not install barricades underneath the platform to prevent workers on the ground from entering the danger zone.
The workers ignored the dropped object hazards and began to prepare the structural steel for installation. The pieces of steel were stacked on the platform near the unprotected edge. One of the workers bumped into a piece of steel, which fell off the unprotected edge of the platform and dropped to the ground 40 feet below.
Several workers were inspecting completed work on the ground level of the facility. They had no idea work was being performed on the elevated platform above them. Suddenly, the 50-pound piece of steel struck one of the workers on the crown of his head. Thankfully, he was wearing a hard hat. Despite the use of his personal protective equipment, the worker suffered serious injuries.
Had a proper toe board been installed on the unprotected edge of the platform, the steel would not have fallen. With no toe board in place, nothing prevented the 50-pound piece of steel from falling off the edge of the elevated platform.
ILP attorney Ben Baer deposed numerous witnesses about the failure to use fall prevention methods, including the installation of toe boards on the elevated platform and erecting a barricade to block off the danger zone. Ben used these failures to show a systemic lack of safety culture that led to the injury. Specifically, Ben obtained admissions from the defendants’ workers that they disregarded the applicable industry standards, federal regulations, and their own best practices by failing to install the necessary toe boards and barricades. These admissions lead to the significant recovery for ILP’s injured client.
About Injury Law Partners
Injury Law Partners helps injury victims rebuild their lives and their families’ well-being when they are at their worst and most vulnerable. Injury Law Partners is not any one person; its lawyers work collaboratively with clients to hold dangerous products, unsafe workplaces or careless actions accountable. Learn more at injurylawpartners.com.
