Articles Posted in On-The-Job Injury

Four men suffered serious job injuries in a San Francisco construction accident involving a roof collapse, the morning of August 31, 2011. According to a news report in The San Francisco Chronicle, the construction accident occurred at an apartment building being constructed in the 2200 block of Third Street, close to 19th Street. The four employees of Nibbi Brothers General Contractors were doing a concrete pour when the roof collapsed over a stairwell. The workers fell a couple of floors and were also covered in wet concrete. One of the workers, 22-year-old Justin Castro, suffered a broken leg, a broken pelvis and dislocated arm. Another injured worker was identified as 29-year-old Mauricio Hernandez. Cal/OSHA investigators are looking into the cause of this construction site collapse.

My thoughts and prayers are with the injured victims of this San Francisco on-the-job accident. I wish them the very best for a complete and speedy recovery.
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A 32-year-old man sustained fatal job injuries after he was electrocuted while working on the roof of a Camarillo home. According to a news report in the Ventura County Star, the man was disassembling a chimney the afternoon of August 11, 2011, at a home in the 2500 block of Paseo Noche, when he touched some overhead wires with a piece of metal. Emergency personnel found the worker lying on the roof and not breathing. His heart had also stopped beating. The man was rushed to a local hospital where he died. An investigation is ongoing.
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Richard Flores, 24, was killed in a Riverside car accident when he was hit by a vehicle while applying street markings. According to a news report in The Press-Enterprise, the fatal pedestrian accident occurred along Valle Avenue, near Sixth Street, in Beaumont on June 28, 2011. Flores was working for the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The driver of the truck was hospitalized for a reportedly unrelated condition. It is unclear at this time what caused the crash or if the driver will be cited.
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Martimiano Morales Carreon, 49, suffered fatal job injuries after he was pulled into a wood chipper. According to a news report in The San Diego Union-Tribune, the fatal workplace accident occurred the afternoon of December 14, 2010 on a property on Moon Ridge Road in Rainbow. Carreon was working with his son when his foot got entangled into a pile of branches going through the commercial chipper. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident. California Department of Occupational Safety and Health officials are investigating the incident.

My heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of Martimiano Morales Carreon following this horrific on-the-job accident. My thoughts and prayers are also with his son was had to witness this terrible incident. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.

Accidents Involving Wood Chippers

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), between 1992 and 2002, a total of 31 occupational injury deaths were attributable to mobile chippers. All of those who died were men with an average age of 35. Seventeen deaths occurred in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry and seven in the manufacturing industry. Also, 68 percent of the fatalities were the result of being caught or compressed by the chipper, while 9 percent were the result of being struck by the machine or machine part. The societal cost of all wood chipper related fatalities between 1992 and 2001 were estimated at $28.5 million in 2003 dollars.
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A waste disposal worker in San Diego suffered serious job injuries after he slipped inside a large trash trailer. According to a news report in The San Diego Union-Tribune, the injury accident occurred the morning of December 13, 2010, when the 44-year-old EDCO employee who was walking on a beam inside a large trash trailer fell three feet into trash. He was wearing a safety harness, but the injuries he suffered during the fall caused him to lose feeling in his lower extremities, officials said. The worker was lifted out of the trash trailer by firefighters.

My heart goes out to this worker and his family. I truly hope he has not sustained catastrophic injuries. I wish him the very best for a speedy and complete recovery. Please keep this injured worker and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

California Industrial Accident Statistics

Falls in any type of industrial workplace have the potential to cause death or serious injury. According to the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), there were 301 fatalities as a result of industrial accidents in the state in 2009. Of those, 54 fatalities were the result of falls.

Possible Causes and Compensation Issues

Based on this news report, the worker was wearing a harness. However, it appears that he still fell inside the trash container and sustained injuries. It is not clear if other fall prevention devices should have been in place or whether the worker’s harness was defective or had malfunctioned. I trust officials with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating how and why this job injury occurred.
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This recent success for the Arizona Husband and Wife Law Team — Alexis and Mark Breyer — holds the general contractor and subcontractor responsible for dangerous conditions on a construction site that led to the serious personal injury of a plumber. Mark Breyer commented that “when a jury follows the law and holds companies responsible for their failures to protect workers on the job site, it is a great day not only for our client, but for all construction workers in Arizona.”
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An accident at a Los Angeles meat packing company resulted in major personal injuries for a worker the morning of June 19, 2010. ABC News reports that the incident occurred at the Jobbers Meat Packing Company in Vernon, California. Officials say the worker somehow fell into the grinder and that his legs were cut off above the knee. He was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries. The accident is under investigation.

My heart goes out to this injured worker. I hope he has not sustained catastrophic job injuries and pray for his quick and complete recovery.
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Efren Monterroso, 64, died of severe personal injuries suffered on-the-job after he apparently got trapped in a trash compactor in a Los Angeles factory in the North Hills area on October 23, 2009. According to an Associated Press news report, emergency personnel responded at 8201 Woodley Avenue and found Monterroso dead at the scene. He was inside the trash compactor when it somehow turned on. Authorities are investigating what caused this tragic accident. Another article in the Los Angeles Times states that the compactor was crushing cardboard at the time of the fatal accident. Officials did not release the name of the business where Monterroso worked.
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