Workplace injuries can quickly become fatal, especially if they’re one of the main four. The most common injuries on the job include falls, electrocutions, being caught in or between objects, and being hit by falling objects. Most workplaces try to avoid these safety risks with rigorous safety techniques and requirements. Sometimes they don’t work, and accidents can happen. Other times, businesses ignore the need for safety, putting workers’ lives at risk.
In any case, families of these fatally injured workers can claim workers’ compensation death benefits, but they may also want more answers about what caused the accident. That could be the case in this worker’s death, too.
A worker killed in the 3M plant in Elyria is the center of an investigation by the Lorain County Coroner’s office. According to the news from Feb. 20, the 48-year-old man was killed when an industrial accident took place at the plant. The coroner reported that the injury seemed to be related to electrocution. At present, the coroner has not released a cause of death. The company is likely being investigated by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, as the coroner has reported it is.
The day of the accident, firefighters from Elyria came to the plant after an emergency call. When they arrived, they found the man who had allegedly been electrocuted being tended to by coworkers; they were performing CPR. The report taken didn’t say the man had been unconscious, but he did not appear to be breathing on his own.
The man was discovered in the chemical processes section of the plant.
Source: Chronicle Online, “Employee death at 3M plant investigated as workplace accident,” Steve Fogarty, Feb. 20, 2016