A worker was tragically killed in a work-related accident last week on state property near the Hatfield, Massachusetts town line. The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the fatal workplace accident. OSHA investigations can take up to six months to complete. However, news reports indicate that the worker was crushed as crews were working to create temporary office space for state employees.
Authorities say that the accident scene involves complex issues. Investigators are interviewing witnesses in an effort to determine exactly what happened to cause the fatal workplace accident. Crews were using two modular units to create the temporary workspace. Officials say that crews were joining the modular units together when something went terribly wrong. One of the units shifted–trapping a 56-year-old Connecticut resident between the massive units.
Two other construction workers were injured in the construction site accident. One of the workers was able to free himself and did not require hospitalization, but did sustain minor injuries, according to investigators. The third accident victim suffered what are being characterized as non-life-threatening injuries. That accident victim was taken to a hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts for treatment.
Often, when a worker is killed in a workplace accident the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will open an intensive probe to discover the root cause of the fatality. OSHA investigations can take up to six months; however, the average probe is completed within one to two months.
Workplace safety is an important issue to protect employees from harm in the workplace. While OSHA seeks to find information over safety issues, workers injured in an accident, and families of victims of fatal work-related accident, may be able to recover for the harms caused by the workplace accident.
