The first step after suffering an on-the-job injury is to document the injury itself. For a New Jersey garbage hauler, the first part of this primary step was completed for him by doctors at Morristown Medical Center. There was no doubt that some level of injury had occurred, and the man will have the hospital records to prove it.
The man that was injured was a 44-year-old resident who works as a garbage hauler, driving a truck with a wench that is used to load and unload roll-off dumpsters. On this particular day, he was loading one of the trash receptacles when the workplace accident occurred.
When one hears the initial details of this accident, they may assume that the driver was standing in some dangerous area. For example, they may think he was standing on the side of the vehicle with heavy traffic nearby. But no, this man was inside the cab of the truck, a place that seems like the safest part of the vehicle.
Instead of staying safe when the cable and wench malfunctioned, this incident shows that a workplace injury can occur at any time. The cable snapped while it was stretched tight, connected to the heavy garbage dumpster. The force of the tension caused the cable to whip through the air, striking the back window with enough force to break it.
When the window broke, the cable hit the back of the garbage hauler’s head. Although a head wound tends to bleed profusely with even a small cut, New Jersey State Police officers said that the man was confused. The man was able to speak to the troopers, but he could not communicate details about his situation, like where he was. This could indicate greater trauma to the head.
In situations such as this one, an attorney who focuses on workplace accidents can help file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits to help pay for the costs associated with the injury.
Source: New Jersey Herald, “Trash hauler injured by truck equipment,” Oct. 10, 2013