Have you ever been working to dig a deep trench at a Pennsylvania construction site and thought, “This is so dangerous, if the trench collapsed right now we’d all be seriously injured.” Your concerns are likely valid. Trench collapses are some of the most dangerous and deadly of all hazards you could find at construction job sites.
In fact, just a couple of months ago a worker lost his life in a Pennsylvania trench collapse accident. Workers were digging the trench at a Rostraver home when the incident happened. The man’s injuries were so severe that he required emergency flight transport to a hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to save him. According to the Westmoreland County deputy coroner, the man was confirmed dead at the hospital.
If you perform a quick search on the internet, you will find example after example of trench collapse accidents that have resulted in catastrophic injuries. Quite often, the workers involved do not survive. If you want to be extra motivated to be safe when working in trenches, search YouTube for “trench collapse” videos.
Were you hurt in trench collapse incident or was a loved one killed? Pennsylvania construction companies must take extreme precautions whenever their workers are performing tasks in any kind of trench area. If a worker is hurt in a trench collapse, it could be a sign that his or her employer was negligent in this regard. As such, a worker hurt in a trench collapse might be able to seek personal injury damages in addition to filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Source: post-gazette.com, “Worker killed in trench collapse in Rostraver,” accessed July 28, 2017