Owners of large construction equipment such as cranes have to ensure that operators of the machines are adequately trained. Another responsibility of the construction company and the crane hire company is to assess the work site before allowing such heavy equipment on the site. If a site has safety hazards that are not addressed, accidents can happen that can lead to a severe workplace injury or worse.
Workers on a construction site in Colorado were fortunate to escape serious injuries when a crane collapsed recently. The construction site accident was reported on a recent Wednesday morning. Firefighters and police said the crane was on a site at which a parking garage was under construction adjacent to a public marketplace.
Accident investigators determined that the ground gave way underneath one of the hydraulic supports of the crane. This caused the crane to tip over onto the parking garage and the roof of the nearby market building. Miraculously, only one worker, who was reportedly on the roof of the parking facility, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of the ground collapse has not yet been determined, but it is suspected that it may have been the site of a disused well of which nobody was aware.
Any Colorado worker who suffers a workplace injury — regardless of the severity — may pursue recovery of financial losses. A benefit claim may be filed through the workers’ compensation insurance system. The benefits offered by the insurance program typically cover medical expenses related to the workplace accident. Furthermore, if the injury caused the worker to lose wages due to hospitalization and subsequent recuperation, a percentage of lost income may be included in the compensation.
Source: thedenverchannel.com, “Crane collapses onto roof of building in Denver, 1 worker hurt“, Anica Padilla, Lance Hernandez, Oct. 28, 2015