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Crane accident claims workers’s life in PA industrial park

On Behalf of | Feb 12, 2013 | Firm News

The prevention of workplace fatalities is an activity whose importance speaks for itself. Every human life is precious, and it is an irretrievable loss when someone dies at work.

Sometimes, when a workplace occurs, it is because the employee had a medical condition. And sometimes, workplace violence is involved. Other times, however, an industrial accident is the cause. That was what happened in a recent Pennsylvania work accident case.

An employee was working at a manufacturing plant in a Pennsylvania industrial park when he was became caught between two steel coils and was crushed to death. The employee was a 60-year-old man who had worked for at the plant for about 30 years. The plant made metal roofing and siding products for commercial and industrial purposes.

The steel coils in question were massive in size. State police who responded to the scene of the death said the employee who was killed had been attempting to move a coil that weighed 10,000 pounds. The employee was using a 15-ton crane in his attempt to do so.

But when the employee tried to lift the coil with the overhead crane, another coil was dislodged. The second coil was also massive; it weighed 5,000 pounds.

There were no witnesses to the accident. State police responded to the scene and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has begun an investigation to determine what happened – and what steps could be taken to improve workplace safety at the plant.

Regardless of what the investigation finds, the man’s family has suffered a truly terrible loss.

Source: “Man crushed to death in Hempfield industrial accident,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Molly Morn, 4-4-13

Our firm handles situations similar to those discussed in this post. To learn more about our practice, please visit our Pennsylvania workplace injuries page.

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