A work accident that involved a crane claimed the life of a construction worker recently. The incident occurred at an out of state construction site on a recent January Wednesday morning. When a construction worker in California suffers a fatal work injury, their dependents are legally entitled to file for workers’ compensation death benefits.
The out-of-state construction crew was installing concrete wall slabs. For reasons that are currently unknown, a crane utilized for this process fell over, dropping a slab, which knocked down another slab, the fire department’s captain said. A construction worker said to be in his 20s was crushed when the second slab collapsed on him.
Firefighters recovered the body while state officials began their investigation. Both the Utah state Labor Commission as well as the Utah Occupational Health and Safety Division confirmed that the agencies will be investigating this incident. However, what exactly caused this tragic accident remains yet to be seen and may not be discovered for some time, as a representative of the agency said that it might take several weeks to determine the cause.
The state of California’s workers’ compensation program provides death benefits to individuals who were related to a worker who suffered a fatal work injury — for example, a spouse, child, parent or sibling — and who were also financially dependent on them. The aim of this benefit is to help dependents compensate for the loss of their financial support. This type of compensation can also be used to help deflect some of the end-of-life expenses that are typically incurred by a decedent’s family — this includes medical bills and burial costs. In these tragic situations, it is typical for loved ones to consult an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to assist with this process.
Source: fox13now.com, “Man killed after concrete slab falls on him at American Fork construction site“, Ashton Edwards and Lauren Steinbrecher, Jan. 26, 2016