Recent workplace accidents: 19-year-old construction worker dies

Generally, it is a requirement that most Maryland employers carry insurance in the event an employee is injured or becomes sick on the job. When workplace accidents happen, the employer’s workers’ compensation benefits apply whether or not the accident or illness was the fault of the worker. In the event of a fatality, workers’ compensation death benefits will be awarded to the family.

A serious construction accident occurred on a recent Monday in January. The accident was in another state. It resulted in the death of a 19-year-old construction worker.

The accident happened around 10:30 a.m. at a construction site, the county sheriff’s office reported. According to a sheriff’s deputy, the female employee was working in a 15-foot hole when she was crushed by a backhoe’s digger. The operator of the backhoe was unaware that the other worker was in the hole at the time he dropped the machine’s apparatus. OSHA has started its investigation.

When fatal workplace accidents occur, the workers’ compensation program in the state of Maryland aims to provide death benefits to individuals who were related to the deceased worker — a spouse, child, parent, or sibling — and were also financially dependent on that individual. The main purpose of the benefit is to compensate dependent family members for the loss of financial support. This compensation is also often used to help ameliorate some of the end-of-life expenses that are typically incurred by a decedent’s family, including medical bills and burial costs. It is typical to consult an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to assist with this process.

Source: ksat.com, “Woman, 19, killed in construction accident“, David Ibanez and Stephanie Serna, Jan. 23, 2017