An on the job site tragedy results in the death of two workers. Unfortunately, it looks like the family could use a very good personal injury attorney, and one in particular that knows about workers’ compensation rights as well. While this accident was in Idaho, many of the laws are very similar to here in California.
Generally speaking, if someone is killed on a job site in California, their dependents have rights to death benefits. While substantial, death benefits are unfortunately rarely enough to provide support for the dependents for a very long period of time. However, if the on the job site injury can be shown to be the result of serious and willful misconduct of the employer, than the death benefits could be significantly more under the workers compensation laws in California.
While the father is quoted as saying, “As for the safety equipment, Taylor says they had everything they needed, but could not have predicted the combination of materials would become so toxic” he may be uninformed. In California, an employer has an affirmative obligation to create and maintain a safe work environment. The duty is an affirmative one to seek out potential problems, and make the work place safe. This includes not only trip and fall type hazards, but also includes the use of chemicals and toxins.
” A terrible construction accident has left two workers dead. It happened last Thursday when a Taylor Construction crew was working on a new sewage system for the city Georgetown.
Jody Taylor says his son, 19-year-old Bo Taylor, and a co-worker, 46-year-old Trent Sorensen both died. Jody says it was a toxic combination of fumes inside a manhole that caused his son to pass out, then drown in the water below.
“The sealant we figure is what put off the fumes with the reaction of PVC liner, the fumes reacted with each other,” said Taylor.” – ktvb.com
Besides the workers compensation benefits, someone injured, or their heirs and dependents, may have wrongful death rights for an accident such as this. In this situation in particular, it is likely foreseeable that the sealant would be utilized on PVC pipe in a confined area such as this. Consequently, there may be liability on the manufacturer and/or distributors of the PVC sealant for failure to adequately warn.
Hiring a good personal injury attorney who is also familiar with workers compensation rights could be very beneficial in a case like this one. If the warnings were sufficient, then there would likely be increased claims against the employer for failing to create a safe environment. If the warnings were not sufficient, then there would likely be liability on behalf of the product manufacturers and distributors for improper labeling.
If you have been injured on a job site, or are an heir or beneficiary of someone who died on the job, please give one of our Sacramento construction accident lawyers at Eason & Tambornini, A Law Corporation a call for a free consultation.
