Charlotte, NC — A worker had to be taken to the hospital following an accident with a forklift in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday, January 6, 2015. The accident happened around 7:45 in the morning.
According to local news reports, the man was working at a warehouse in the 7300 block of Statesville Road when he was hit by a forklift being operated by another employee.
He was immediately taken to The Carolinas Medical Center. While the exact extent of his injuries is unknown, officials are describing his injuries as non-life-threatening.
The victim’s name has not yet been released. Local authorities are continuing to investigate. It’s not clear if the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has yet been made aware of the accident.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
Whenever an employee is hired on to a company, they’re brought under the umbrella of the employer’s workers’ comp system. That system provides benefits in case of an on-the-job accident. In exchange for those benefits, the employee agrees not to bring a claim against the company in case an accident does occur. I call this an agreement between the two parties, but it really isn’t. It’s a condition of employment, and typically benefits the employer much more than it does the employee. However, the labor laws in some states do provide exceptions to this rule. One of those is if a third party is involved. Third parties aren’t covered under the workers’ comp umbrella, and so would be treated just like anyone else responsible for causing an accident. It’s important to have a working knowledge of how these laws operate, especially in light of an accident like this. Was the employee operating the forklift working for another company? We don’t know. But in a warehouse setting like this, it wouldn’t be at all out of the ordinary.
— Grossman Law Offices
