Construction Worker Dead as Experts Say Construction Accidents Up

Newberry, SC (WorkersCompensation.com) – A construction worker is dead after a trench collapse in South Carolina.

Experts say injuries to construction workers are up as building ramps up as well.

Police in Newberry, S.C., said they were called to a construction site on Monday morning for a worker trapped in a ditch. EMS, Fire and rescue crews responded to the construction site and found the worker buried in a ditch.

Officials said the worker had been laying a water line in a trench when it collapsed and trapped him. Attempts to save the man using specialized trench rescue units were unsuccessful, officials said. Fire crews from Columbia, S.C. with expertise in trench and confined space rescue operations were called, but the worker died at the scene.

The Newberry County Coroner was called to the scene and will perform an autopsy this week. The incident remains under investigation, officials said.

Attorneys at Chandler Ross Attorneys in Denton, Texas said that as construction grows in North Texas, the area is noticing an uptick in work-related injuries. In Texas, employers are not mandated to provide workers’ compensation benefits, the firm said. In choosing not to subscribe to the state workers’ compensation system, or to purchase their own insurance, they open the door for injured workers to seek full compensation through the courts if employer negligence can be established.

According to the National Safety Council every seven seconds, a worker is injured on the job, translating to nearly 13,000 injuries daily across the United States. In 2023, there were more than 4 million medically consulted workplace injuries, and 4,543 workplace fatalities.

In Chappaqua, N.Y., a construction worker was injured after he fell into the foundation of a construction site.

Chappaqua police said the incident on Monday happened when the worker was doing some excavation work on the property. Authorities said he fell into the foundation of the home. Paramedics were called to the scene, and he was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.

The incident is under investigation.

According to the Center for Construction Research and Training, 39 workers “died while performing trench/excavation work in 2022, up from 15 in 2021.”

In Maricopa, Ariz., a construction worker was injured when he fell off a high school.

According to authorities, the construction worker was working at Desert Sunrise High School when he fell. Officials said he was found, bloody and injured on the ground, by several students. Students at the school told InMaricopa.com that a group of students watched the worker fall off a ladder and hit his head on the sidewalk around 10:30 a.m. The worker was given a chair, and first responders were called, officials said.

“I can confirm that emergency personnel responded to a medical incident at Desert Sunrise High School today,” Maricopa Unified School District spokeswoman Mishell Terry said. “Out of respect for privacy, we are unable to provide additional details.”

In Washington, D.C., a Pepco worker was seriously injured in an incident at a substation.

Officials said a hazmat crew and a rescue squad were called to the Pepco substation in Northwest D.C. on Monday morning. According to fire and EMS officials the worker was electrocuted.

In a post on X, the fire department said crews were called to an “unusual incident” at the substation. Vito Maggiolo, with the DC Fire Department told DC News Now that the employee was electrocuted while work on or around an “electrical reactor.”

Once the scene was cleared, crews worked with Pepco to secure the power and ensure the area was safe. Once the scene was safe the employee was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. On Monday, he was listed as being in critical condition.

Pepco confirmed the incident in a statement.

“We are aware of an incident that occurred at our Harvard Substation in northwest Washington, D.C. involving a Pepco contractor this morning,” the company said in its statement. “Our thoughts are with the individual impacted by this event. The safety of our customers, employees, and contractors is always our top priority. We are working closely with local authorities and are continuing to investigate this matter.”

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