Workplace accident kills 1 employee, sends others to hospital

On behalf of Jeffrey Frederick of Frederick & Hagle posted in Workplace Accidents on Friday, April 1, 2016.

A 24-hour commercial food warehouse shut down operations following a tragic collapse that killed a worker and injured several other people. These types of accidents on the job often leave communities and work places in Illinois devastated. Workers’ compensation benefits can help address some of the damages that victims and their families struggle with in the aftermath of a workplace accident.

Reinhart Foodservice is a hub for distributing both commercial and restaurant foods, operating on a 24-hour time scale in order to meet customer demands. A storage freezer 100,000 square feet in size is part of the Reinhart facility and where the accident occurred. A shelving unit described as unstable by workers gave way and collapsed, taking with it several thousand pounds of frozen foods.

Nearby workers as well as employees passing by on a forklift were caught in the collapse, trapping several of them for a brief period before they could be freed. Two workers in particular suffered severe injuries that necessitated being airlifted to the hospital while three others were transported by ambulance. Another two received on-scene treatment, but one worker was not as fortunate. After becoming trapped in the collapse, and rescue workers spent hours recovering the victim’s body.

Safety precautions are an absolute necessity in the workplace and can be especially important in high-risk professions. Still, in many fast-paced professions in Illinois, employers tend to forego certain safeguards and instead put most of their focus on productivity. Workers’ compensation benefits exist to help both workers who have been injured in a workplace accident and the surviving family members of those who lost their lives on the job. While temporary, these benefits can address necessary day-to-day expenses that might otherwise go unmet.

Source: insidenova.com, “UPDATED: Police identify victim killed in Reinhart Foodservice collapse“, March 30, 2016