Louisiana Company Cited After Worker Fatally Injured On The Job

Posted in Our Blog,Workers Compensation,Workplace Injuries on December 13, 2013

A recent workplace fall fatality in a nearby state is being blamed on safety shortcomings perpetuated by Custom Tower, a Louisiana company. Officials say that the company will receive a willful citation in connection with the incident, during which an employee was fatally injured on the job. The worker fell a shocking 125 feet from the top of a cellular tower as he was attempting to secure a microwave dish atop the structure.

Regulators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration admonished the company for failing to provide adequate safety measures to avoid this preventable incident. OSHA standards clearly state that workers must be outfitted with fall protection equipment if they are working at heights above 6 feet. A comprehensive program about fall protection has been in place through OSHA for years, so employers should be prepared to avoid allegations of unsafe working conditions simply by following instructions. Those materials are produced in tandem with cooperation from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and other professional organizations.

OSHA officials began investigating the incident after it occurred in August. The company is facing the most severe type of workplace safety citation. Willful violations indicate that the employer knew about the workplace hazards and consciously chose to expose workers to it, anyway. This type of violation generally shows total indifference to workers’ health and safety.

Victims such as the relatives of this tower worker deserve to receive workers’ compensation benefits because of their family members’ workplace accidents. Without that compensation, relatives can be saddled with medical and burial costs that can cause serious financial strain. Many people are not aware that workers’ compensation is still relevant in cases involving workplace fatalities. Victims whose relatives have been killed in workplace accidents may benefit from the counsel of a qualified workers’ compensation attorney.

Source: www.osha.gov, “Louisiana cellular tower company cited by US Department of Labor’s OSHA following worker fatality” Lindsay Williams & Michael D’Aquino, Dec. 05, 2013