Seriously injured workers in California and their families need to understand California work injury law. In order to illustrate these points here is a workplace scaffold accident case study. The discussion includes a California workers compensation analysis and a California third party work injury liability analysis. A Case Study - Scaffold Collapse Accident Dizzy Scaffold, Inc. erected scaffolding so that work could be performed on an industrial tank. The scaffolding that was erected was a two-point suspension scaffold 15 - 25 feet above the ground. Employees of Coast and Turf Painting Co. were working on the scaffold when the scaffold attachment point failed, releasing the scaffold cables. The scaffold was not equipped with an independent attachment system and fell to the ground. Causing two painters to be severely injured. One of the painters was not tied off independently, as a result he fell to the ground below suffering severe injuries, including brain damage, hip replacement, and multiple broken bones. The painter that was tied off suffered a severe elbow injury when his arm was caught in a cable. Investigation: An investigation of the scaffolding revealed: 1. Dizzy Scaffold, Inc. did not use scaffold tie backs as secondary anchorage on two-point suspension scaffolds. This is in violation of 29 CFR 1926.451(i)(4) and the equivalent CAL-OSHA section. 2. There were no employee lifelines to substantial members of the structure. Instead the lifelines were to the scaffold. This is in violation of 29 CFR 1926.451(i)(8) and the equivalent CAL-OSHA section. 3. They failed to use scaffold attachment components capable of sustaining four times the maximum load. This is in violation of 29 CFR 1926.451(i) (2) and the CAL-OSHA equivalent section. California Workers Compensation Analysis: The Coast and Turf Painting Co. employees were entitled to benefits under the California workers compensation system. The benefits were low - California has some of the lowest workers compensation benefits in America. And the workers were in a constant battle with the California workers compensation carrier over medical treatment. The workers compensation carrier continually used the Utilization Review Procedure to cut-off the workers medical treatment. Both workers and their families were further traumatized by California's unfair workers' compensation system. After a couple of years enduring the unfair California workers' compensation system these workers and their families were barely making ends meet. California Work Injury Lawsuit (Third Party Work Injury) Analysis: The employees of Coast and Turf Painting Co. had a strong liability case against Dizzy Scaffold, Inc. The scaffolding structure was erected negligently and carelessly. The accident was caused by Dizzy Scaffold, Inc.'s failure to use scaffold tie backs as a secondary anchorage. They cut-corners by not rigging employee lifelines to substantial members of the structure. Both workers were able to settle their third party work injury cases against Dizzy Scaffold, Inc. and they were able to keep their life-time medical the California Workers Compensation Insurance carrier. The painter with the brain injury recovered seven figures and the painter with the elbow injury received a high six figure recovery. The only way these workers and their families survived economically was because they were able to successfully prosecute third party work injury lawsuits. Disclaimer The foregoing is a case study. It is not legal advice. Any resemblance to actual events, persons or companies is purely coincidental. I am simplistic in order to achieve clarity. Each case is different and has separate challenges, difficulties and/or nuances. There is no guarantee that your case will have a similar result as discussed in this case study.
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