Alabama Injury Lawyer Blog

On-the-job accidents and other mishaps at work can result in a range of injuries, from minor to severe. Occasionally, fatal accidents do occur at work. One problem is that most people do not take sufficient precautions, but employers also have a great responsibility to provide a safe work environment for their employees. As a Birmingham personal injury lawyer, I see stories in the news every week about workers hurt or killed on the job.

Lately, a news account illustrated the potential for injury on the job, even for a young person. According to reports, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) fined an Ashford, Alabama, manufacturing company after a 15-year-old boy received severe injuries when he accidentally fell into a wood processing machine on June 8 last year.

Referred to as a freak industrial accident, reports said that Brian Jacobs Jr. broke both his legs after he fell into an auger machine at the Summerford Pallet plant near old Highway 84 and Houston County Road 55. Jacobs was reportedly helping his stepfather, Jeff Davis, while he worked at the plant.

Fortunately for the teen, he recovered from his injuries. However, OSHA officials felt the safety measures at the plant were lacking. Summerford Pallet reportedly received nine violations and a total of $6,000 in fines from the federal government . The incident was made public by a recent Freedom of Information Act request made by the Dothan Eagle to OSHA.

The information supplied shoed that Summerford Pallet were hit with the citations and fine from on a number of safety violations discovered at the plant based on a two-day inspection following the accident.

According to news reports, on the day of the accident emergency responders from several different agencies worked for almost three hours to free the boy from the machinery, which is used to grind up mulch at the plant.

An AIRHeart helicopter took the boy to the nearby Southeast Alabama Medical Center, where he was admitted to the medical facility’s intensive care unit. Doctors apparently performed successful surgery to save the boy’s legs.

OSHA fines company where teen broke his legs while helping stepfather, AL.com, December 15, 2009

Local Teen hurt in accident in fair condition, DothanEagle.com, June 9, 2009