Furniture Movers And Cartage Company Employees
Fatal On-the-Job Accidents Suffered By Moving Company Employees
For those individuals who have been injured while working as furniture movers and cartage company employees, the New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Act provides for monetary compensation to cover emergency room visits, ongoing medical care, and even lost wages to cover living expenses while the worker is recovering. Of course, being hurt on the job is not an uncommon occurrence, but it is the less frequent fatal injury accidents that can deal a devastating blow to the family of a worker killed on the job.
The dangerous nature of the cartage and furniture moving business is often exhibited in the slip-and-fall and crush injuries that affect moving van drivers and furniture moving personnel. There are numerous common hazards, but also many that most people rarely experience. Heavy items, such as large couches, sofas, heavy tables, and large appliances can easily get out of hand (especially on staircases and balconies) where a worker could fall and be critically, if not fatally, injured. Piano movers are especially at risk for injury or death.
While crush injuries can be a major concern for moving company employees, trip-and-fall accidents are a frequent source of serious head injuries with sometimes-fatal consequences. Deaths caused by fall-related brain hemorrhage or other closed-head or traumatic brain injury can turn an otherwise ordinary day at work into a nightmare for the victim’s wife and children. Falling from the balcony of a multi-story home or down a flight of stairs in a high-rise apartment building is also a risk that some moving company personnel must face on a daily or weekly basis.
Death Claims After Work-Related Moving Van Accidents
Sadly, when a tragic fatal on-the-job accident happens to a mover or cartage company employee, the effect on that individual’s dependents can be a real shock. Sometimes, the result of an accident will leave a victim critically injured in the hospital for day or weeks prior to his or her unfortunate demise. Our workers’ compensation specialist, Daniel Santarsiero, Esq., is well versed in the field of death benefit claims.
If your loved one has been killed while working for a moving company or cartage business, it is important that you file for workers’ comp death benefits as soon as practical. Our attorneys at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer of JFM Law understand that on-the-job accidents cause many thousands of fatalities each year across the United States. Here in New Jersey, our professional workers’ compensation experts know how devastating any work-related death can be for a victim’s loved ones.
On the whole, workers’ compensation insurance (also referred to as workers’ comp) provides monetary compensation following the injury or death of an individual while working at his or her job in New Jersey. However, death benefits can often fall far short of the real needs of a victim’s family. This can be especially true if the victim was the sole breadwinner for his spouse and dependent children.
Our experienced moving and cartage death benefit lawyers can help the worker’s surviving family members by determining whether or not a third-party wrongful death lawsuit is warranted. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established standards to address the various safety issues facing New Jersey workers, day laborers, and blue-collar employees, all of whom have the greatest exposure to life-threatening hazards while on the job.
Death Benefits following Fatal Moving-related Injuries
Every New Jersey employer has the responsibility to ensure that its employees have the safest possible environment in which to do their jobs. State and federal occupational safety regulations require employers to maintain proper safety precautions for the type of work being done. Even so, it is not unusual for furniture movers and cartage company employees to experience a greater than normal risk of injury or death due to the heavy lifting requirements involved in doing their jobs.
Lifting heavy items, such as furniture, bulky household items and large appliances is easily a primary cause of accidental injury. A study conducted by Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that more than one-third of heavy lifting injuries resulted in, at best, missed workdays. At worst, overexertion can lead to a fatal heart attack or possible life-threatening stroke. Slip-and-fall accidents, which can happen anytime, also have the potential for fatal consequences.
Workers’ Comp Death Claims Attorneys
Dependents of a deceased worker killed while on the job, or who has otherwise died because of a work-related injury or illness may be eligible for death benefits. The weekly monetary compensation is generally equal to 70 percent of the victim’s weekly wage, however not to exceed the maximum benefit amount as set forth by the Commissioner of Labor.
It is important to understand that benefits are not granted under all circumstances. Any surviving spouse or natural children who were not living in the victim’s household at the time of his or her death must prove actual dependency. This applies to all other alleged dependents, such as parents, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters of the victim.
If your family has lost a loved one because of a fatal on-the-job accident, we encourage you to contact a qualified workers’ comp death benefit claims attorney. The experienced workers’ compensation professionals at New Jersey Workers Compensation Lawyer are trained to provide legal assistance to the spouses and dependent children of employees who have been killed on the job here in New Jersey and in counties such as Monmouth, Hudson, Ocean, Passaic, Bergen, and Mercer.
Please contact our law offices at 866-916-3549 and ask for Daniel Santarsiero. We will be happy to arrange for a free, no-obligation consultation, after which you can decide if you would like us to represent your family. The work we do for you will be on a contingent fee basis, meaning we will not charge any legal fees unless we make a recovery on your behalf.