Workplace Accidents: 18-Year-Old Dies When Trapped in Machine

• Sep 26, 2018
• Blog
• Michael Burgis & Associates, P.C

Families who see their loved ones off to work in the morning, never to see them again, naturally experience incredible trauma. In many cases in California, fatal workplace accidents affect entire communities. Such fatalities seem even worse if the deceased worker is not even 20 years old yet, with his or her whole life ahead.

Authorities recently reported such a fatality in Santa Ana. The rescue teams of Orange County Fire Authority responded to the premises of Aardvark Clay and Supplies after receiving an emergency call. According to an incident report, an 18-year-old employee was trapped in the workings of equipment used to mix the clay. The cause of his entanglement was not reported.

Authorities say four of the young man’s co-workers came upon the accident shortly after it happened. They could not free him, and when rescue workers arrived, he had already succumbed to his injuries. It took the technical rescue team almost the entire day to remove the body of the deceased worker from where it was trapped in the machine.

California families who have to deal with the loss of loved ones in workplace accidents are typically entitled to seek financial relief through the workers’ compensation system. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney can simplify the complicated administrative and legal proceedings required to navigate a claim for death benefits. Families usually receive compensation to cover the expenses related to end-of-life arrangements along with financial packages to make up for lost wages. These benefits continue for predetermined periods, and serve to ease the financial burdens of day-to-day living costs and monthly obligations like rental or mortgage payments.