A worker in North Carolina was killed in a construction accident that took place on Nov. 13. Four other workers were also injured in the same workplace accident. According to reports, the workers had been involved in the construction of a pedestrian bridge at the northern campus of Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh.
The fatal accident occurred when the pedestrian bridge the workers were building collapsed. The exact nature of the deceased worker’s injuries is unclear, and there were no reports to indicate when the worker was pronounced dead. Wake County EMS did confirm that the four workers who survived the accident were taken to the trauma unit of a hospital for treatment of their injuries. No individuals were trapped in the bridge debris.
According to a spokesman for Skanska USA, the victims were working for a concrete subcontractor to complete the pedestrian bridge project. In April, new construction projects began at the Wake Tech Community College north campus as part of a borrowing agreement from 2012. Included in the new campus projects were two pedestrian bridges. The bridge that collapsed reached heights of 40 feet above the ground.
Workers who have been injured in this type of accident can seek workers’ compensation benefits to help recover from their immediate financial losses. Workers may receive reimbursement for their health care expenses as well as payment for a percentage of their lost wages. If a worker is killed on the job, the right to pursue workers’ compensation benefits gets passed along to the worker’s surviving family members. An attorney might be able to help a family in this situation to recover the maximum amount of compensation for their loss.
Source: abc NEWS, “1 worker dies when NC pedestrian bridge collapses”, November 13, 2014