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The critical injury of a construction worker in Hartford CT is serving as an important reminder in that community about the importance of construction safety.

According to the Hartford Courant last week, the 47 year-old worker was standing on a rolling scaffold when he fell off of the building on Seymour Street in Hartford. The worker fell 60 feet and suffered serious injuries, but he was able to move after the incident and was conscious.  The name of the worker has not been released at this time. OSHA is investigating the safety practices of the construction company and also if the scaffolding was defective.

Scaffolding injuries happen far too often in the construction industry and often are due to lax safety standards. These accidents result in serious falls, and injuries include broken bones, impalement, amputations, spinal cord and brain injuries.

OSHA has set criteria for all projects using scaffolding at job sites and construction companies are required to comply with them. OSHA standards include several aspects of the scaffolding, such as walkway width, strength criteria, guardrails and spacing between platform units. Still, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stats that 72% of workers injured in scaffolding accidents had either the planking/support giving way, employee slipping, or being hit by a falling object. The agency also reported that there are over 60 deaths per year in the construction industry due to scaffolding accidents.

Our View

Our workplace injury and defective product attorneys hope that this injured worker has a complete recovery, and quickly. Workplace injuries are common, as many companies put profits before safety, and sometimes these accidents are also caused in part by a defective product. We represented a factory worker who had his hand mangled on the job, which required his thumb to be amputated. A trailer slipped off a jack as he was working around the equipment, resulting in a $750,000 settlement. 

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