Floor Collapse
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Floor Collapse Injuries at Construction Sites Can Be Deadly: Do you need a Pennsylvania Law Firm?
The construction industry leads all other industries in annual reported fatalities. It is not uncommon for more than 2,000 construction workers to be killed on the job in a given year or about 10 fatalities per workday on construction sites in the United States. About 20 percent of those injuries are from floor collapse accidents or other parts of the building collapsing while under construction. Most floor collapse injuries result from preventable accidents.
Architects and engineers envision a building in its completed condition with all of the components functioning together to resist both vertical and lateral loads. However, there are countless examples of construction stability failures -- under both gravity and horizontal loads -- in buildings that would have been safe if the final connections, shear walls, and floor and roof diaphragms had been completed. During construction the contractor is responsible for maintaining the safety of temporary supports.
Here are some floor collapse accidents:
- A 29-year-old man was killed and five other construction workers injured when the fourth floor of a building in Queens, flattened under the weight of freshly poured concrete.
- A 37-year-old man fell 35 feet to his death and three other construction workers were seriously injured when the third floor balcony jobsite in Brooklyn collapsed. None of the workers were wearing federally mandated safety gear.
- Seven construction workers were injured, one seriously, in Las Vegas. The floor collapse happened at the first of two planned 45-story towers. Two sections of the second story collapsed onto the first as the project's aluminum shoring, or temporary supports holding up the second floor, gave way while crews were pouring concrete.
- A concrete floor that was being poured collapsed at a job site in Massachusetts. Five union masons were assisting in the concrete pour. They fell 40 feet to the ground below suffering a range of debilitating personal injuries.
- A concrete floor that was being poured collapsed at a job site in Massachusetts. Seven masons and laborers were assisting in the concrete pour. They fell 20 feet to the ground below suffering a range of debilitating personal injuries.
When construction costs rise, corners are cut and mistakes are made. During a construction boom, accidents happen more frequently, including fatalities from floor collapse.
Serious and sometimes fatal floor collapse injuries at construction sites occur with unfortunate frequency.
Who is responsible?
- The contractor
- The landowner
- The third party