A construction worker from Kensington was killed while working on the repaving project on Route 9 near Old Saybrook. The construction accident occurred when a dump truck, owned by a subcontractor of Costello Industries Inc., Center Trucking Co Inc., backed over the worker, pinning him underneath the truck for several minutes.
Emergency assistance arrived on the scene of the construction accident, but they were unable to save the road construction worker, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the dump truck was not injured.
Connecticut construction accident attorneys assist the families of those who have been injured or killed working on Connecticut roadways.
Connecticut Road Construction Work Zones are Dangerous Places
As highways continue to age, more repairs are needed to maintain safe roadways in Connecticut and throughout the United States and more highway construction workers are needed to make those repairs. The Federal Highway Administration reports that one highway work-zone fatality occurs every 10 hours throughout the United States. Even more frequently, a work-zone injury occurs every 13 minutes. These numbers include both the construction workers as well as highway motorists.
The main threats to the safety of road workers are their company's own equipment, vehicles and materials; the leading cause of death of roadway workers in construction zones is being backed over or run over by another vehicle. Improving the visibility of road construction workers to their coworkers and to others on the road can lead to safer road construction zones, fewer injuries and fewer fatalities related to machinery accidents.
As happened at the Old Saybrook road construction site, one road construction worker per month is killed in a run over or back over accident, typically by a dump truck. The reason for these construction site accidents is often the same: blind spots.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health has created several blind spot diagrams that illustrate the danger-zones behind and around specific types of construction equipment. One look at any of the diagrams reveals that from the windows in the cab of a dump truck, the operator can see little to nothing from that point backward.
Preventing blind-spot accidents, however, is possible. Installation of cameras that allow a driver to see what is behind the construction equipment, a back-up signal that alerts the driver to objects or people that may be in the pathway of the vehicle and a properly functioning back-up alarm can reduce the number of roadway construction workers that are killed in run overs and back overs each year.
In addition to the cameras and alarms, heavy-equipment operators like dump-truck drivers, should be trained on the danger of injury and death to other workers if proper backup procedures are not followed. When the negligence of a coworker causes injury to your family member, Connecticut construction accident attorneys can help you understand your options for recovery.
