Worker injured at building supply company

No matter where you work, you should be aware of the hazards around you. Whether your biggest threat of injury is dropping a box of copy paper on your foot or being injured by a piece of machinery, workplace safety should be on the minds of everyone. When people become lax about on-the-job safety, that’s when accidents occur, and people are injured, or worse, killed. Business owners should also do everything in their power to ensure the workplace is a safe as possible, since accidents cut into productivity and can result in fines and punitive and compensatory claims. Our Houston readers might be interested in a workplace accident that took place in East Texas and severely injured a man.

A 19-year-old Hudson man was injured when he became wedged between a truck and a forklift loaded with sheet rock. The man was unloading sheet rock at a building supply company when he walked between the back of the truck and the forklift. He was pinned between the two vehicles, but authorities do not know why the man walked between the two vehicles.

The man was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries to his chest cavity. He was flown by helicopter to another hospital, and according to hospital personnel, his condition has improved from critical to stable.

Investigators are trying to determine why the man walked between the vehicles or if there was a malfunction on either the truck or the forklift. Several possible reasons could have caused the man to become trapped, such as the sheet rock load shifting on the forklift or the truck. If either vehicle did not have its brake engaged, the vehicles could have moved and caused the man to become pinned, as well.

In cases such as these, the injured worker could seek compensation for medical expenses, lost wages or other expenses resulting from an accident that occurred while on the job.

Source: kltv.com, “ETX teen injured in sheet rock incident at work” Taylor Hemness, Aug. 28, 2013