Working in construction can be dangerous; there are large tools, heavy equipment, powerful vehicles and sometimes dangerous conditions. Maryland-based readers may have heard about three people who were hurt in a workplace accident during a collapse at a Boston construction site. A March 20 report claims that the accident resulted in two of the workers having to be hospitalized, while a third was able to be treated outside the hospital.
The construction site, which is located in the Chinatown neighborhood, is meant to be a large building that will house 398 apartments. The building is scheduled to be finished in 2015, but after this accident, it's not clear if it will be completed on time. According to the news reports, the accident happened around 8:00 a.m., when the building suddenly collapsed.
The Boston Fire Department Deputy Chief states that the accident was triggered by a heavy load being placed on the structure. At that point, the then-12-story building collapsed down to its fifth floor. Two workers were injured, with those injuries requiring hospitalization, according to the report. One of them suffered a serious head injury during the building collapse. A third worker also was hurt in the accident. He was believed to have hurt his wrist but didn't go to the hospital for treatment.
After the collapse, the streets around the building had to be shut down to prevent traffic from coming into a dangerous construction area. Most workers were evacuated; that included 120 people who were at the site at the time of the collapse. Now, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into this incident. It will determine if there was a structural problem, safety errors or other problems that could have been avoided during the building of this project.
