Chicago has been known for more than a century as an industrious, working-man’s city. The number of manufacturing, construction, and foundry jobs present in the area has always earned the area a tough, blue collar image. However, these workplaces often lend themselves to unfortunate, sometimes tragic, accidents.
With more and more workers on industrial and construction job sites coming from temp work agencies, the safety and care situation seems to only be worsening. One local man suffered the consequences of this hazardous climate, and now a wrongful death suit has been filed against the company whose workplace he had been assigned to.
In November of 2011 a 50-year-old employee of a temp labor agency had been assigned to a chemical manufacturing site run by a company that produces cleaning products for various use. While cleaning a 500-gallon chemical tank, the man was showered with a 185-degree solution of water and citric acid form his head to legs, sustaining serious burns all over his body.
Remarkably, no ambulance was called and the man only received medical care after another coworker rushed him to the Loyola University Hospital Burn Center, where he was treated for third degree burns over 80 percent of his body. Tragically, the man passed away from his injuries three weeks later.
Investigations by OSHA have noted that “safety breakdowns in the plant warrant criminal prosecution.” Furthermore, the man’s death is exemplary of the perilous situation many of America’s 2.5 million temporary or contingent works find themselves in. Often working industries’ most dangerous positions, temp workers are hurt more often and their accidents frequently go unrecorded.
The Chicago company was fined $473,000 by OSHA for 14 alleged violations and is currently facing a wrongful death suit by the worker’s family members. For those who have lost a loved one or have themselves been injured in a workplace accident, financial compensation may be available with the help of a personal injury worker’s compensation attorney.
Source: Tucson Sentinel, “Temp worker injuries often go unrecorded,” Jim Morris, Dec. 24, 2012