Officials are still probing the death of a construction worker who died in a horrific crushing accident on the Williamsburg Bridge last week. The worker, 50-year-old JerryBurgess was standing on a mechanical lift. He had been preparing the bridge just before a paint job when the platform suddenly became stuck. The man and his partner began working to reactivate the platform. According to officials, the platform suddenly moved, and the worker was trapped between the steel supports of the bridge and the lift.
He sustained crushing injuries and was rushed to the hospital. He succumbed to his injuries, a little while later. Burgess was an employee of a contractor, who had been hired by the NY Department ofTransportation for paint and repair work on the bridge.
There is no information yet on what caused this accident. Details are still hazy, and only a complete investigation will point clearly to what happened here. For now, it seems like there was a mechanical malfunctioning at some point in the process, which caused the worker to become trapped between the metal lift and the bridge supports.
Crushing injuries in the construction workplace are sustained when a person’s body or part of the body are caught between two objects that exert great pressure on the body. Amputations are often seen in such accidents. In other cases, the damage to the nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and tissue can lead to a condition called Compartment Syndrome. In this condition, there may be bleeding, bruising, lacerations, smashed limbs, fractures, and nerve injury. In many cases, surgery may be required to treat the injury.
The NewYork construction accident lawyers at Godosky and Gentile represent workers injured in construction site accidents in New York City and around the state of New York.