North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog

Four people are dead from injuries they sustained on July 4 in Ocracoke when a truck filled with fireworks exploded. The four victims were workers who were preparing for an Outer Banks celebration for the 4th of July.

According to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigators, the fireworks blast was an accident that occurred while the fireworks show was being set up. The tractor-trailer was loaded with enough fireworks for a 22-minute program.

One of the victims sustained serious burn in injuries from the North Carolina fireworks accident and was flown to Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville. He died on Monday. Another fireworks victim died at the accident scene. A third victim was taken to UNC-Chapel Hill Jaycee Burn Center.

The company in charge of setting up the fireworks for the Ocracoke show was Melrose South Pyrotechnics, which is located in Catawba, South Carolina. Company officials say they are working with investigators to determine the cause of the deadly blast.

Fireworks Injuries
According to the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, almost 7,000 people in the US had to go to hospital emergency rooms in 2008 because they sustained a fireworks injury. At least 11 people were killed in fireworks accidents in 2007. Almost 2/3rds of these injuries occurred within the one-month period around the 4th of July.

Common kinds of fireworks injuries include:

• Burn injuries
• Eye injuries
• Hand injuries
• Leg injuries

If you or someone you love was injured in a North Carolina fireworks accident, you may be entitled to personal injury or wrongful death recovery. Even if you were a worker injured while setting up a fireworks display, there may be third parties that can be held liable for the harm you have suffered. You also may be entitled to receive North Carolina workers' compensation benefits.

Companies and premise owners charged with overseeing a fireworks display or any other event are responsible for making sure that there are no hazardous conditions on the premise that could cause injuries or death. Otherwise, they could be held liable for North Carolina premises liability.

4 in Outer Banks Die In Fireworks Accident, Washington Post, July 6, 2009

Death Toll Rises in Fireworks Blast, NY TImes, July 5, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Fireworks-Related Injuries, CDC

CPSC Announces Drop in Fireworks-Related Injuries; Consumers Still Urged To Celebrate Safe This July 4th, CPSC.org, June 30, 2009

Continue reading "North Carolina Fireworks Explosion Kills Four People Killed on July 4" »

Energy Systems Analysts, a water heater maker company in Hickory, is one defendant in the North Carolina personal injury lawsuit filed by two people who were injured in the June 9 blast at a Con Agra Slim Jim plant in Garner.

300 people were working at the plant when the deadly work explosion occurred. The fatal natural gas explosion injured almost 40 people and killed three others. One of the injured workers, Tammie O’Neal, sustained back, leg, and head injuries. She was trampled by workers that were rushing to escape the explosion. Another injured employee, Leonard Spruill, sustained serious burn injuries.

Energy Systems Analysts was a Hickory contractor that made and helped install a gas water heater that investigators think may have been a key factor in the deadly natural explosion. The workers' Raleigh personal injury lawsuit is accusing the water heater maker of not having the license in North Carolina to install, connect, or manipulate the pipes that deliver the natural gas. The plaintiffs are also accusing the Hickory contractor of failing to evacuate the plant when it became apparent that “natural gas was venting into the plant.”

The US Chemical Safety Board believes there is a strong likelihood that contractors vented the gas inside the building when they installed the device. The gas should have been vented outside. North Carolina safety officials are investigating 10 companies because of the fatal blast.

Other defendants named in the North Carolina personal injury lawsuit are Curtis Ray Poppe, an Energy Systems Analysts employee, Jacobs Engineering Group, the company that came up with the installation plans, and Southern Industrial Constructors, a mechanical contractor.

Although workers cannot sue their employers for work accidents—they are, however, entitled to workers’ compensation benefits—they can file North Carolina personal injury claims against third parties that were liable for causing their work injuries.

Hickory company named in lawsuit in wake of fatal plant explosion, Hickory Record, June 23, 2009

Injured ConAgra workers sue contractor, The News & Observer, June 16, 2009

Related Web Resources:
3 confirmed dead in explosion, The News & Observer, June 16, 2009

Energy Systems Analysts

In North Carolina, the House is considering a bill that would cap workers’ compensation payments for senior workers. The cap would go into effect less than six years (that’s 300 weeks) after a worker turns 65 or becomes eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits. That is, unless the worker asks a state commission to provide lifetime benefits.

The proposal seeks to only place a cap on North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits for retirees with temporary disabilities and not retired workers with permanent disabilities. The Senate Commerce Committee is looking at S 975, a companion bill.

While supporters of the bill believe that the workers’ compensation cap would allow North Carolina to become more competitive with other states that already have such caps, as well as decrease fraudulent workers’ compensation claims, opponents of the bill are worried that this could cause injured elderly workers to struggle during their retirement. The NC Advocates for Justice as well as AARP North Carolina don’t approve of the bill, and the latter group has expressed concern over the financial and medical challenges a retired, injured worker might face if he or she solely had to rely on Social Security benefits.

North Carolina Workers' Compensation
If you are a North Carolina worker who was injured on the job, you should report the injury incident as soon as possible and no later than 30 days after it happened. Make sure that you issue your report in writing so that you've documented the details of the incident, as well as your notice to your employer.

As an injured North Carolina worker eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits, you are entitled to receive coverage for medical treatments that are required to heal your injury, help you recover from your disability, or, at the very least, allow you to be as physically comfortable as possible while living with your injury or disability. You are also entitled to temporary partial disability benefits or total disability benefits if your work injury requires you to miss more than seven days of work.

If your injures warrant permanent partial disability or total disability status, you are also eligible for certain benefits. The body part that was injured and your average weekly income will be factors in calculating these benefits. In certain instances, your employer’s insurer may try to work out a settlement with you, which would prevent you from seeking additional workers' compensation in the future.

The best way to make sure that you receive all of the North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits that your injuries warrant and that you are owed is to consult with an experienced Charlotte workers’ compensation law firm about your work injury case.

Lawmakers back workers' compensation limit, Citizen-Times, May 13, 2009

North Carolina Considers Cap on Workers' Compensation for Retirees, Claims Journal, May 12, 2009

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Industrial Commission

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Continue reading "North Carolina Bill Would Cap Workers’ Compensation Benefits After Retirement" »

In North Carolina, the family of Nancy Hayes will receive workers’ compensation death benefits for her 2004 suicide. Hayes, who was employed at the New Hanover County Department of Social Services Food Stamps division, overdosed on prescription pain medication after an unknown assailant attacked her at work.

Following a North Carolina Industrial Commission ruling that New Hanover County should pay Hayes’s heirs workers’ compensation because the work attack prompted her suicide, her children will receive $102,500.The commission also determined that the county could have done more to help the injured worker get psychological counseling, which her doctors were recommending.

On March 8, 2004, Hayes was thrown against a wall and a refrigerator a number of times by her attacker before she lost consciousness. Medical records document that she sustained cuts to her neck, head contusions, and puncture wounds on her right hip. An arrest was never made, and New Hanover County had suggested that Hayes fabricated the whole incident.

Hayes committed suicide 10 days after the attack.

Before her death, Hayes, 54, left suicide notes that blamed the North Carolina county for her problems. Even though she had a history of mental problems and tried kill herself before, a suicide expert and psychologist says that if Hayes hadn't been attacked and if she had received the necessary counseling, she wouldn't have died.

North Carolina’s Industrial Commission first heard this workers’ compensation case in November 2007. The Commission told New Hanover County to pay Hayes's heirs approximately $117,000, plus medical expenses and funeral costs. Following an appeal, the work injury case was settled for $102,500.

North Carolina Workers’ Compensation
If you are injured at work, you are likely entitled to North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits. Barring certain exceptions, state law requires employers to provide their workers with these benefits. It doesn’t matter who was at fault or who caused the injury as long as it was work-related.

If a North Carolina worker dies during a work accident or as a result of a work incident, then his or her surviving husband or wife and children are entitled to death benefits.

New Hanover agrees to pay $102,500 for employee's suicide, StarNewsOnline.com, April 2, 2009

Workers' Compensation Overview, Justia

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Industrial Commission

Department of Social Services, New Hanover County

A North Carolina construction worker died on December 2 after he was struck by a tool that fell from the 11th Floor in an elevator shaft located in the Wachovia tower. Jonathan Beatty, an elevator installer employed by Thyssenkrupp Elevator Corp., was 24. The work accident that caused his death is the third accident to occur at the Wachovia construction site, located at Tryon and Stonewall, within a month.

On November 10, steel beams dropped from a crane, smashing into windows before hitting the ground. Shards of glass fell toward motorists and pedestrians below. No one was injured in this second construction accident.

On November 4, Leslie Hopper sustained damage to her property when glass from the Wachovia construction site fell onto her vehicle, flattening her tires, breaking her windshield, and damaging her sunroof. Hopper and her daughter were headed out of town when the accident happened. Hopper has expressed frustration that the construction company didn’t do more to ensure motorist and pedestrian safety.

North Carolina Construction Accidents
Construction accidents can result in serious injuries for construction workers and others, such as pedestrians and motorists passing by the site, and other parties that may be on or around the work premise. For the year ending in September 2008, 18 construction-related fatalities occurred in North Carolina.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers do not have to report a work accident unless three or more people end up in the hospital or one person is killed. An OSHA investigation usually takes at least four weeks. During this time, OSHA employees will inspect the accident scene, gather evidence, and interview witnesses to determine the cause of the work accident and find out whether any safety standards were violated.

Wachovia tower incident provides window into worksite rules, Creative Loafing, December 9, 2008

Job at tower gave worker new hope for his dream, Charlotte.com, December 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Wachovia Condominium Tower, Emporis.com

Continue reading "Charlotte Construction Worker’s Death is Third Work Accident Involving Wachovia Project in a Month" »

A construction worker sustained critical injuries in North Carolina on Saturday after falling from a more than five story height. The work accident occurred at future site of the luxury Vue Condominiums located in uptown Charlotte.

Fall Accidents at Work:
15% of disabling work injuries are a result of fall accidents, slip accidents, and trip accidents. Some 5,100 workers died in fall accidents in 1999.

Kinds of Falls:

Elevated Falls:These happen less often but result in more serious injuries.

Examples of Elevated Falls:
• Falls from the higher levels of a construction project
• Falls from ladders
• Falls from motor vehicles
• Falls from construction equipment, such as cranes and loading docks

Same-Level Falls: These happen more often but result in less severe injuries.

Examples of Same-Level Falls:
• Slip and fall accidents
• Trip and fall accidents
• Step and fall accidents

It is important that construction companies provide workers with the proper safety clothing and gear and that the correct safety procedures are followed on the site. Failure to implement safety measures can lead to catastrophic injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says that fall accidents are a leading accidental cause of construction accident deaths.

Worker Critically Injured in 5-Story Fall, Charlotte Observer, October 5, 2008

Man Falls from Uptown Construction Site, WSOCTV.com, October 4, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Preventing Injuries from Slips, Trips and Falls, CDC.gov

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Continue reading "North Carolina Worker Sustains Life-Threatening Injuries After Fall At Charlotte Construction Site" »

The deadly New York crane collapse that left seven people dead and 10 others injured has brought the issue of crane safety to attention—especially in Charlotte, North Carolina where a number of cranes are in operation.

Heade Southeast, Inc. operates 20 cranes in Center City Charlotte alone, not to mention another 20 cranes in the rest of the region. Some cranes can carry weight as heavy as 40,000 pounds.

The North Carolina Department of Labor says that there have been four deaths involving cranes in North Carolina since 2004. Dennis Kenna, Heade Southeast President, cites human error or disregard of the manufacturer’s safety recommendations as causes for crane accidents.

Recent North Carolina construction-related crane accidents:

November 2006: No one was injured when a crane collapsed at a construction site at Caldwell and Third Streets.

May 2006: A construction worker suffered a broken arm, neck, and legs when he was struck by a big concrete bucket that fell from a crane.

August 2004: A construction worker died at 'Steel Fab' in West Charlotte when a large steel beam crushed him.

May 2004: A construction worker died in Statesville after a crane hit him.

In New York on Monday, rescue workers pulled three more bodies from the rubble of Saturday’s catastrophic crane collapse--bringing the death toll to seven. The three victims are construction workers Clifford Canzona and Santino Gallino and Florida resident Odin Torres.

Torres is the only fatality that was not a construction workers. She was visiting her friend John Gallego in a nearby town home at the time of the collapse. The town home was destroyed by the crane. As of Tuesday, Gallego was in critical condition after being pulled from below 30 feet of rubble.

The crane had fallen when a 5 ½-ton steel collar, which workers had been installing around the crane, brook loose. The falling collar hit another collar, which destabilized the crane. The crane then smashed into the building on East 51st street and then the townhouse.

If you have been injured in a North Carolina or South Carolina construction accident, you should contact our personal injury law firm for your free consultation.

Death toll in New York crane collapse rises to 7, Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2008

Crane safety questioned after incident, News14.com, March 17, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Crane Accidents

Continue reading "Deadly New York Crane Accident Highlights Safety Issues As Multiple Cranes Operate in Charlotte, North Carolina" »

In North Carolina, A construction worker was injured in Raleigh on Monday after falling down an elevator shaft while working on the RBC Plaza site. The man was in a big metal basket and being lowered down the shaft with a crane when he fell some 14 feet from the 21st floor of the high-rise construction structure. The patient was treated at WakeMed.

The injured man broke his ankle and ribs. A Hardin construction worker says that this is the first serious injury sustained by a construction worker since the construction project began in October.

Unfortunately, construction accidents have been known to occur frequently to construction workers because of the nature of their job. Crane accidents, exposure to hazardous substances, electric shock, explosions, welding accidents, defective or faulty equipment or machinery, falling from great heights, and getting hit by heavy falling or moving objects are some of the common kinds of construction injuries that occur.

Construction accidents can lead to serious injuries, such as broken bones, serious burns, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, permanent disabilities, loss of limbs, and death. Due to the seriousness of some construction injuries and the nature of construction work, an injured person may find themselves permanently unable to work.

Workers’ Compensation benefits, which provides injury and death compensation for employees injured or killed on the job, prevent an employee for being able to sue an employer for injuries sustained on the job. However, the presence of workers’ compensation benefits does not mean that you shouldn’t contact a personal injury if you have been injured on the job in North Carolina or South Carolina.

Your workers’ compensation lawyer can make sure you are getting the maximum amount of benefits that you qualify for and that you receive your compensation as soon as possible. Your attorney can deal with the company’s insurance company to make sure that your rights are protected.

Your personal injury lawyer can also investigate your construction accident to determine whether a third party can be held liable for your injuries. The manufacturers of defective construction equipment or machinery or companies associated with the construction project are just a few third parties who could be held liable with a personal injury or wrongful death claim or lawsuit.

Fall injures worker at RBC Plaza, Newsobserver.com, October 16, 2007

Construction worker hurt in fall in Raleigh, ABC11.com, October 15, 2007

Related Web Resources:

North Carolina Statutes and Rules, Workerscompensation.com

RBC Plaza

Continue reading "North Carolina Construction Worker Falls Down Elevator Shaft In Raleigh " »