East Hampton, NY — A man was hospitalized with serious injuries after he was crushed by a pallet of sheet rock at a building supply company in East Hampton, New York, on Friday, May 8, 2015. The accident took place at the Riverhead Building Supply Yard on Cove Hollow Road, around 10:30 in the morning.
How the accident happened is unknown at this point. The man was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he’s reported to be in critical condition. Authorities identified the man as 75-year-old George Lombardi.
Representatives from Riverhead Building Supply say that they are cooperating with authorities and are looking for the cause of the accident.
No other injuries were reported.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
In all honestly, there are several things which I could see leading to this accident. However, there are two likely culprits. One is that the mechanism the supply company used to fasten the sheet rock in place failed, causing it to fall. Or it wasn’t properly secured in the first place. Again, keep in mind that this accident wasn’t 100% caused by one of these two things, but I’d say that there’s a higher than average chance that one of them was involved. If the sheetrock just wasn’t properly secured, then the supply company could very well be found liable for the victim’s injuries, and could possibly have a claim filed against them by the victim. That’s as it should be. If proper safety practices weren’t being used here, someone needs to answer for that. If some piece of equipment failed, and that’s why the accident happened, then it’s possible that a manufacturer could become involved, and found partially liable. Obviously, more investigation is needed.
— Grossman Law Offices