New York, NY — Four people were hospitalized following a work accident that took place at a construction site in New York City on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. The accident happened at 331 Madison Avenue, around 10:00 in the morning.
The four people involved in the accident were employees of Waldorf Construction, who had been brought on to handled some interior demolition. The men were injured when they fell while trying to remove a large chandelier.
The names of the men have not been released. All four were taken to Bellvue Hospital for treatment. Three were expected to be released later in the day, while one remained at the hospital in stable condition.
The site was being managed by Tishman Construction, and reports say that a licensed safety manager was on site. Tishman says that they are currently working with the Department of Buildings to make sure that the site is safe for the rest of their employees to continue working.
Scene of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary
Typically, an accident like this is going to be handled through an employer’s workers’ comp policy. As most know, workers’ comp pays out benefits to those injured in on-the-job accidents. However, one of the drawbacks to the system is that in most cases it bars employees from bringing claims against their employers. However, this protection is not afforded to third parties who may have been involved in the accident. The reason it’s important to keep this in mind is because in construction accidents such as this one, third parties are often involved. At these big construction sites, you typically have people from several different companies, all working together on projects that overlap each other in some way. If a third party is found to have played a role in an accident, then they can be held liable for what damage was caused. Obviously, there’s still a lot about this accident that we don’t know, so hopefully the investigation can shed some light on things in the coming days.
— Grossman Law Offices
