Aldo Rodriguez Killed in Plantation, FL, Fall Accident
Plantation, FL -- October 31, 2016, Aldo Rodriguez suffered fatal injuries following an accident where he fell from a lift while working.
According to reports, Rodriguez was working for Tirone Electric Inc., which is based at 6151 Pembroke Road in Hollywood, FL. Rodriguez was reportedly doing work in Plantation when the accident occurred.
As he was working atop an aerial lift, he somehow lost balance and fell off of the lift. Due to the fall, he suffered critical injuries and eventually died as a result. It's not clear if there were any co-workers with him, whether or not he had proper safety equipment, or what caused the fall.
OSHA has not released any additional details concerning the accident.
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Commentary
When I read a story like this, I always tell people that there needs to be a closer, independent investigation of the accident. The reason for this is that work accidents are rarely black and white, and OSHA reports only give you a small piece of the story. For example, this particular accident report simply states, "Worker killed in fall from aerial lift." I don't know about you, but a seven word summary hardly seems satisfactory to someone who lost a loved one. An independent investigation is necessary in determining exactly what caused an accident and whether or not that cause was a simple accident or the result of highly dangerous working conditions.
Here's an example from a case we had not long ago. The victim was in a cherry picker working on a utilities pole. Reports said the cage wobbled, and the man's safety harness failed, causing him to fall to the ground below and die. Our private investigators looked further into this and found out that the only truth to that story was that the victim fell.
First of all, it turned out the worker had no safety harness, so when the cage shook, there was nothing to protect him from falling. But why did the cage shake? Well, he was working with other people at the time, one of which was his supervisor. Down below, his supervisor and a co-worker got into an altercation that turned physical. During the scuffle, one of the men hit the cherry picker's controls, causing it to lurch and knock the worker off balance. So not only was the man not properly secured in the bucket, but the accident was caused by his own boss getting in a fight with a co-worker. And like many other stories similar to this one, it gets worse.
Reports thought the man had a safety harness because he was wearing one when EMS arrived. So how do I know he didn't have one? Witnesses that our investigators talked to told us that the supervisor and the co-worker that caused the accident left the scene to go to a store and buy a safety harness. That's right. They left their dying co-worker on the ground so they could cover up their mistake.
This is definitely an extreme example, but just imagine what would've happened if no one had looked into the accident further. There would have been a seven word report saying, "Worker killed in fall from cherry picker." Now I don't mean to sound alarming or like every work accident is some conspiracy to cover up a death. What I'm saying is early reports about work injuries or deaths are often lacking in crucial information. There needs to be an independent investigation to ensure that all of the details surrounding an accident are properly and thoroughly examined. It may turn out the incident was just a tragic accident and couldn't be helped. That kind of thing happens often enough. However, if it turns out the accident was caused by a systematic or persistent breach of safety procedures, then that needs to be addressed to ensure no one else has to suffer the same fate.
--Grossman Law Offices
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