Deadly Crane Accident at a Construction Site on the Grounds of Mercy Hospital in Miami
The Miami Herald reported on Saturday:
A crane crashed at Coconut Grove’s HCA Florida Mercy Hospital Saturday afternoon, killing one person and injuring four others. The crane was on a construction site for a part of the hospital that was being renovated. “We will be contacting the families of the people involved,” said Miami District 2 Commissioner Sabina Covo. “We have been in touch with the crane company to make sure these types of situations don’t happen again.” Miami Fire Department officials responded to a call at 12:15 p.m. Saturday about a crane crash. Upon arriving, officials found that a 200-foot crane had collapsed after reaching its highest point. It crashed onto construction workers below. TOP VIDEOS “Two patients were treated at Mercy Hospital and two were treated at Jackson Trauma Center in serious but stable condition,” Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez said. “One was declared deceased at the scene.” Miami Police Department Assistant Chief Armando Aguilar said the department is conducting an investigation to find out what happened. OSHA has been contacted. “No patients or colleagues were impacted and operations were not impacted. Our prayers are with families and workers that were injured,” he said.
Do the victims have claims? Yes. The law which applies depends on whether the victims were construction workers and if so who they worked for or whether they were innocent bystanders, just people on their way into the hospital. People on their way into the hospital have claims against whomever caused the crane to topple over or collapse. The crane company of course is a likely suspect. Then there is the general contractor which is supposed to supervise and be responsible for the entire job. And of course there are all of the companies which employed the workers who may have touched or driven vehicles into or affected the crane in any way.
If the injured or if the person who died was an employee of the crane company or of the general or other contractor, they have workers’ compensation claims against their employers. Workers’ compensation is a unique specialty. Lawyers who handle workers’ compensation handle only that usually.
If you are injured on the job, your claim against your employer is governed by the workers’ compensation laws. What does that mean? That means you cannot recover against your employer pain and suffering and your recovery is limited. The exceptions are (1) where the employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance to cover you as required by law and (2) where the employer fires you in retaliation for having a workers’ compensation claim.
Also, if you are injured on the job, you may have a claim against people and companies who are not your employer. These are called “third party claims”. The third parties include people who cause the accident but are not your employer or a contractor of your employer. Also, that includes the manufacturer or distributor of defective products which caused the accident.
At Hickey Law Firm, we handle the claims of people injured by machinery such as cranes falling. For example, we represented a young ship hand from Nicaragua was severely injured when a crane fell onto a ship in Nassau, The Bahamas. Our client worked on the ship and was on the top deck of the ship at the time the crane fell. The 4” diameter steel cables on the crane whipped our client and slapped him down to the deck. Our client suffered a traumatic brain injury, complete separation of the knee joint on the right, and multiple fractures to his right arm and hand. He had to undergo several surgeries to his right arm and hand and to his left knee. His walking will never be the same again and he does not have full use of his right arm. All 3 of the insurance companies for the shipowner, the crane owner, and the employer of our client said that there was no insurance coverage. After mediation, Jack Hickey worked a deal with all of the 3 insurance companies to contribute sufficient funds to take care of our client for the rest of his life.
Call Hickey Law Firm or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation. Free. No fee unless we win. All fees are out of any recovery, not from you. There is no obligation to you before that. None.
Attorney John H. (Jack) Hickey and his team handle a wide range of cases, including but not limited to cruise ship accidents, admiralty and maritime accident cases, medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability, railroad accidents and car accidents. We represent victims from all over the nation, the world and the state of Florida.