On September 1, 51-year-old Texas resident Rafael Torres-Leyva went missing. He had been renovating a home in East Austin when workers noticed he was missing. Unfortunately, he was found beneath the home he was working in deceased, after a fatal electrocution. According to OSHA, electrical accidents are the third leading cause of fatalities amongst construction workers and nearly half of the deaths caused by electrocution were on the sites of construction jobs. Unfortunately in Texas, fatal construction accidents like this one happen all too often. Advocates for workers’ rights say that Texas leads the nation in construction deaths, many of which go unreported due to the legal status of many workers.
How Does Electrocution Happen?
Often times on construction sites, worker are exposed to live wires or electricity while they are doing repair work on homes or buildings. A wide variety of jobs require workers to handle devices that have active electricity running through them. There are typically three main types of electrical accidents that occur on a construction site:
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contact with overhead power lines (most common)
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contact with transformers and live wires (second most common)
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contact with electrical currents while working with tools, machinary and appliances (third most common)
Many times electrocutions occur when equipment a worker is holding touches a live wire and the worker becomes indirectly electrocuted. This should never occur because power lines should be insulated or turned off by supervisors before any workers become involved. This is the responsibility of the company employing the worker.
Electrocution can be Deadly
When a worker is electrocuted, the whole body can be affected. Workers can fall, become burned badly internally and even suffer brain injury. Injuries can range from minor to permanently debilitating to death, depending on the location of the shock and the voltage of the current. Major injuries often leave construction workers unable to ever work again, and unable to make a living for their families.
What to Do if You Get Electrocuted
If you are injured on the job site, or a loved one was killed, it is highly possible that you can receive compensation, especially if the injury or death was preventable and occurred because of the negligence of another who was responsible for your safety. After you immediately seek medical attention, get in touch with one of our experienced construction injury lawyers who can help you through the process, recover what you will need for your future, and hold your employer responsible so that future conditions might be improved. You may receive medical costs, lost wages and other expenses associated with your injuries. At Van Wey, Metzler & Williams, PLLC we offer a free consultation at no charge to you. If we accept your case, you don’t pay us unless we win. You will pay nothing up front and we will put all of our resources toward gaining a judgement that is in your favor.
By: Kay Van Wey | March 14th, 2016