Construction sites must be safe spaces for workers who are doing the job. When there are safety violations, workers might think that something is going to happen to them while they are just trying to earn a living. Tragically, these safety violations can sometimes lead to worker deaths.
In Queens, a man who was concerned about the conditions of a work site recently died while he was doing his job. He was crushed to death between a forklift and a wall. He died at the site of the accident.
A family member reported that he was afraid that he was going to die at work. The site where he was working had several violations for safety issues since September. There were also orders for work to stop since that time.
Workers at the job site note that the man was working behind the forklift trying to move a window when the window fell and the man was crushed behind the machinery. They said workers were trying to maneuver the forklift and didn’t see the man so his head was crushed.
A worker at the site said that the workers were warned against using the forklift in the manner in which it was being used at the time of the accident. One worker said that the accident could have been prevented.
This immigrant construction worker’s family members are now left to try to pick up the pieces. They have lost their loved one in the very way that he was afraid of passing away from. They must live without him and without the income he was bringing home.
Source: New York Daily News, “Forklift crushes construction worker to death at violation-plagued Queens jobsite: ‘He was afraid of dying’,” Greg B. Smith, Edgar Sandoval and Graham Rayman, March 13, 2018
