It was business as usual for Central Hardin High School teachers and students on an early fall day, even though a construction worker lost his life shortly before classes began.
Elizabethtown Police Department officers found a man pinned by construction equipment being used for the school’s remodel. The man was transported to Baptist Health Hardin, where he was later pronounced dead.
Central Hardin’s principal told families that no students or staff members were involved and no one else was harmed.
Construction Accidents
Back in the day, large crews spent several years on large projects, like the Brooklyn Bridge. Nowadays, bosses expect skeleton crews, which often include large numbers of LEP (limited English proficiency) workers, to complete these large projects in a few months. This environment is a breeding ground for construction accidents.
The unsafe environment often begins before workers start working. To pad their profits, manyu construction companies take shortcuts wherever possible, including worker safety. Shortcuts in one of the following areas are common:

Providing Safety Equipment: To many bosses, handrails, safety harnesses, and other safety equipment is an unnecessary cost. Furthermore, many bosses believe that such equipment slows the work down, which could mean a missed deadline. If workers complain, the boss usually finds a way to fire them.
Explaining Its Use: Most construction workers have used safety equipment before, But not all of them know how to use it, especially if the equipment has changed recently. Furthermore, as mentioned, many construction workers have limited English skills. So, they cannot understand safety lectures. If someone translates, important information often gets lost in translation.
Emphasizing Its Use: It’s not enough to make safety equipment available and teach workers how to use it. Bosses must also explain why workers should use it, and what’s at stake if they don’t use it.

As outlined below, injured construction workers have multiple legal options if the boss drops the ball in any area, and that inattention causes an injury.
The Fatal Four
Overall, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, with support from its state partners, has done a good job of reducing the number of fatal workplace accidents in the United States. However, safety statistics aren’t very comforting to accident victims and survivors. 
According to OSHA, the following types of incidents are responsible for over half of the fatal construction accidents in Kentucky:

Falls: These incidents may be the most common, and most preventable, kinds of fatal construction site injuries. A fall from as little as four stories above ground is often fatal. The aforementioned safety equipment, especially personal harnesses, could practically eliminate such falls.
Caught Between: When a construction worker gets “caught between” a large vehicle, like a dump truck, and a fixed object, like a retaining wall, the results are usually tragic for the victim. Such incidents are almost as common as falls.Large vehicles have very poor sight lines, especially when they’re backing up.
Electrocution: These incidents often cause falls. Arc blasts normally propel victims through the air. Alternatively, electrocutions could cause serious burns. Electrical surges trigger a “no let go” response, or an involuntary muscle contraction. The victim often can’t survive extended exposure to raw electrical power.
Struck By: If Tom drops a hammer on his toe, he might only need first aid. If Tom drops a hammer from three or four stories above ground, his mild carelessness might cause a catastrophic injury. Bosses often imply that workers have a responsibility to prevent such injuries, but legally speaking, that’s not true.

“Caught between” injuries also often involve unreinforced work trenches, especially those trenches that are more than five feet deep.
Compensation Available
Normally, workers’ compensation provides no-fault benefits to injured construction workers. A Lexington personal injury attorney must only prove that the incident was work-related. It doesn’t matter if the victim was partially at fault, mostly at fault, or entirely at fault.
Workers’ compensation benefits usually include lost wage replacement and reasonable medical bill payment.
Other injured workers may have other options. Nonsubscriber claims are usually the most common alternative. 
Although Kentucky law requires large employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance, many construction companies ignore this requirement. Alternatively, companies may lie to their carriers about payroll size or other important matters. When insurance companies discover these false statements, they usually deny coverage. SInce the employer is effectively uninsured, a nonsubscriber claim is usually possible.
Injury victims are usually entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Lexington, contact the Goode Law Office, PLLC. We routinely handle matters in Fayette County and nearby jurisdictions. The post Fatal Construction Accident at Hardin County School first appeared on Goode Law Office, PLLC.