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Category: Construction Accidents Blog

Fines For Lead Paint Hazards At Illinois Construction Co

Federal regulators recently cited an Illinois construction company for safety violations which exposed its plant workers to the risk of suffering serious workplace injuries. Authorities say that History Construction Management LLC, of Odell, allowed its workers to be exposed to airborne lead at levels exceeding 40 times the safe limit. It is unclear whether any workers at the company's plant will suffer long-term health consequences as a result of their lead exposure. "Employers such as History Construction Management have a...

Construction Fire At Lawndale Injures Worker

WGN-TV reports that a 25-year-old man was injured in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood during a construction accident. The construction worker was performing rehab work with a cutting torch which may have caused an explosion. The Chicago Fire Department received reports of the explosion and fire around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the 1800 block of S. Kostner Avenue. The man sustained serious burn injuries and was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. Word of his recovery progress has not been...

Illinois Iron Worker Receives $64M After Construction Accident Blog

An Illinois iron worker recently received a $64 million jury verdict after suffering severe injuries in a construction accident. The iron worker fell at the Dekalb construction site and suffered a variety of injuries including closed head trauma and a spinal cord injury. The jury found that the contractors failed to provide a safe workplace at the construction site and that the steel beam manufacturer produced steel beams with tripping hazards that caused the iron worker's fall. Specifically, the steel beams...

Jury Determines Fatal Construction Death Was An Accident

The death of a construction worker last September was an accident, a jury recently held. The man's death happened at a roadside construction site on Illinois Route 8 near Legion Road. An Illinois State Trooper said that the man and the bulldozer operator had been working together all day before the fatal construction accident. The man suffered catastrophic personal injuries after being crushed by the bulldozer. The bulldozer operator's job was to spread dirt over the road and the deceased...

What OSHA Rights Do Illinois Construction Workers Have?

In addition to state law protections, most construction workers are covered under the regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act). This federal law was enacted to protect workers across the country from being injured or killed at work. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces the Act primarily by requiring that construction employers abide by workplace safety standards which can help prevent construction accidents from happening. Workers who believe that their working conditions are...

Proving A Job Site Is Unsafe

Many Illinois construction companies seek to shift the blame for a construction accident to an injured worker. A worker can help counter these tactics by demonstrating that there were OSHA violations present at a job site. Violations of federal workplace safety laws can show that an employer had a history of lax safety standards which may have contributed to a worker's accident. These violations can help lessen an employer's opposition to a workers' compensation case. Workers' compensation benefits typically cover the...

GWC Obtains $6,300,000 Jury Award on Behalf of a Local 134 Electrician

On February 4th, 2011, a Cook County jury returned its verdict in favor of the estate of Charles Chuck Ingolia, resulting in an award of over six million three hundred thousand dollars in damages for his family after he was badly burned, and died, in a switchgear explosion. In the aftermath of this November 13, 2006 tragedy, the official reports promptly blamed Chuck for causing an arc blast in a new switch gear at the CTAs Clark Street substation. Theconstruction...

Worker Burned At Lawndale Construction Site

The construction industry is one of the more dangerous industries in which to work, whether it be in Chicago or anywhere. There is heavy machinery, heights from which one could fall as well as intentional and unintentional explosions. A 25-year-old construction worker was injured at a Lawndale job site. The Chicago Fire Department initially speculated that the worker's torch may have set off an explosion which started a fire. The 25-year-old was critically injured with burns, according to news sources....

What Do I Do If I Am Scared to Report a Construction Injury?

A Chicago bricklayer wrenches a back muscle in a construction accident which leaves him with back spasms. Does he report it? A foreman is directing construction site traffic when a backhoe runs over her foot. Does she report it? A carpenter is working on a ladder when someone bumps into it and the ladder, with the carpenter, topples to the ground. The carpenter lands on a knee. Is that injury reported? According to reliable sources, construction accidents are unreported by...