On December 4, 2013, a man was killed while working at an Amazon warehouse resulting in a lengthy investigation. According to a news report on Penn Live, the fatal warehouse accident occurred at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Avenel, New Jersey. Officials say he was caught in between a conveyor system while performing sorting operations. The investigation into the cause of the accident has resulted in citations for companies in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and New York.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited the facility where the worker was killed as well as four temporary staffing companies. OSHA officials say that temporary staffing agencies are responsible for assessing work sites to ensure that workers are provided reasonably safe work conditions. In this case, the staffing companies were cited for not certifying that a hazard assessment of the facility was conducted before employees were allowed to work there.
These citations come down a week after a 52-year-old Carlisle woman was killed at an Amazon Fulfillment Center on Allen Road. In that accident, the woman suffered multiple traumatic injuries after crashing a pallet mover into some shelves on June 1. An investigation into the cause of that accident is ongoing. It is unclear if multiple companies will face citations after the new investigation is completed.
The family of a worker who is killed on the job in New Jersey would be well advised to research their legal options. In New Jersey, you can pursue death benefits in the event of a fatal accident that is work-related. Dependents of workers who are killed are eligible to receive up to $3,500 in funeral expenses as well as weekly benefits of 70 percent of the average weekly wage of the deceased worker.
Dependents that are eligible for death benefits include the surviving spouse and natural children who were part of the decedent’s household at the time of the accident. Any surviving spouse, children, parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters who were not part of the victim’s household at the time of the accident will have to prove financial dependency. The benefits are then divided between the eligible dependents by a judge. Families who wish to know more about their legal options would be well advised to discuss the specifics of their case with a Princeton attorney who will fight to protect their rights and help them secure maximum compensation for their losses.
The firm’s principals, Gabriel R. Lependorf and David E. Silverstein, have each been representing injured victims in the State of New Jersey for over thirty years.
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