An employee was crushed to death by a heavy mold at a spa and pool factory in Pennsylvania Wednesday morning.
The 20-year-old worker came into contact with a 1,200-pound pool mold that quickly crushed him underneath it. The employee worked at Strong Industries Pool and Spas for just a month, owner Wade Spicer told the Daily Item. A camera caught the incident on video.
“He leaned into the mold. It was being lowered,” Spicer elaborated. “Maybe he dropped something, perhaps a cell phone, I’m not sure.” Spicer said the employee wore earbuds at the time of the accident. He also mentioned Strong Spas has never had a workplace death.
Coming into contact with dangerous objects is the third-highest contributor to workplace fatalities in America. Properly training and maintaining policies designed to guarantee the safety of your workers are some of the ways you can avoid accidents in the workplace, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Proactive prevention programs are highly effective at reducing injury or death.
Workers’ Comp Covers Your Injuries
Workers injured on the job are almost universally covered by an insurance policy called “workers’ compensation” carried by your employer. Pennsylvania’s laws are particularly strict, requiring employers to carry workers’ compensation even if they employ just one individual.
However, plans come from a variety of sources. Pennsylvania employers can purchase coverage from an insurance agent or broker, apply for coverage from a private-sector carrier with a workers’ comp policy, utilize the State Workers’ Insurance Fund, or insure themselves. These options differ state to state, and each state and option may have different procedures.
Workers’ compensation claims generally require an “independent medical examination” conducted by doctors who work with insurance companies. These IMEs can limit the company’s liability and decrease your chances for a reasonable payout, a common practice for workers’ compensation insurers.
Receiving compensation for an injury on the job can be difficult without the assistance of an attorney. You can seek workers’ compensation for many injuries, ranging from serious injuries like broken bones to more common injuries like hearing loss or tendonitis. Employees can also bring claims against third parties like manufacturers or contractors if they believe their injuries are due to the negligence of another company.
In severe circumstances, your loved one may have died because of injuries sustained on the job. You can seek help investigating an accident leading to a workplace fatality and the potential for employer negligence at the facility. Workplace accidents are a common instance leading to wrongful death lawsuits.
As for the accident at Strong Spas, the coroner conducted an autopsy at Lehigh Valley Hospital but hasn’t released the results yet. Friends of the employee set up a GoFundMe page for funeral expenses.
(Editor’s Note: This is a news story from the ‘Morgan Monitor,’ a news wire offering legal perspectives on news in your community.)
comments