WARWICK, RI — Paulo Matos was killed in a construction accident that happened in Warwick, Rhode Island on Wednesday, November 12th, 2014. The news report released by The Providence Journal said that the accident happened at about 1:45 Wednesday morning.
45-year-old Paulo Matos was killed when he was working on a roadway project in Apponaug. Police think that he was crushed by a heavy machinery that fell on him for reasons currently under investigation.
Matos was taken by EMS personnel to Rhode Island Hospital where he died of his injuries.
Officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are currently investigating the accident.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
When people see that OSHA is investigating a work accident, they assume that this will be the end of the road, but OSHA does not work to repair what victims lose, they’re there to find out what happen, and issue fines. Do the fines go to the victim, or their family? Absolutely not, they go to to government, and the dollar value of the fines is at least two decades out of date. Companies barely blink at them nowadays. The government agency really works for itself, they don’t act as advocates for victims in any way. Victims have to fight for themselves, and if a company besides the one the victim worked for played a role in this accident, workers’ compensation and all its strict (often harmful) limitations may not be an issue. Considering multiple companies and contractors are at construction sites, there is a real chance that this accident was the fault of another company, in which case, the claim would be against that company, not a workers’ comp claim against the employer, which is almost always favorable, as workers’ comp tends to help employers more than victims of accidents.
— Grossman Law Offices