One man was electrocuted and another shocked during a construction accident at Mission Viejo High School the afternoon of July 17, 2014.
According to a news report in The Orange County Register, a construction crew was working on the campus’s athletic field in the 25000 block of Chrisanta Drive when one of the workers was electrocuted.
Orange County Fire Authority officials said the workers were
building scaffolding, which they planned to use to hang a banner. The scaffolding was about 30 feet high when the accident occurred. The workers got too close to an electrical wire, officials said.
One Killed, One Seriously Injured
A second worker climbed on to the scaffolding to perform CPR on the first worker and received an electrical shock when he stood up and struck the wire, throwing him around 30 feet onto the ground. He suffered burns to his neck and hands as well as fall-related injuries. Both workers were transported to a local hospital.
The electrocuted worker was pronounced dead and the second worker’s condition was upgraded from critical to serious condition. Officials did not release information about the company the men worked for or who hired them for this particular job. School district officials said they did not authorize the project on which the crew was working. The investigation is ongoing.
Our deepest condolences go out to the family members and friends of the worker who was killed in this construction accident. We also wish the seriously injured worker the very best for a quick and full recovery.
Causes and Compensation Issues
Based on this news report, it appears that the men were working on scaffolding when one of them made contact with a live wire and was electrocuted. There are a number of questions that must be asked in such cases. Who authorized the men for the job? Were the workers properly trained for the job? Were they provided with safety equipment such as harnesses? Were they properly supervised? Was the area properly inspected for live wires that could pose a danger to the workers?
In such cases, workers could receive workers’ compensation from their employers for medical expenses, lost wages and even death benefits. However, California workers’ compensation benefits are woefully inadequate when it comes to compensating severely injured workers or families that may have lost a primary wage earner. In such cases, an experienced Orange County personal injury lawyer can help workers or their families determine if they have a third-party claim.
Such claims are filed against parties other than the employer such as a contractor, sub-contractor, property owner or manufacturer of a defective product, whose negligence may have caused or contributed to the incident. These types of claims are usually worth a lot more than workers’ compensation benefits and in many cases help injured workers and their families obtain crucial monetary support during challenging times.