Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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Tubing misconnections are medical errors that can lead to severe personal injury or death.These errors often happen when a doctor or a nurse mistakenly connect tubes for different functions together, for example connecting a feeding tube to a tracheostomy tube. To avoid these type of errors, new ISO standards have been developed for tubing connectors. The objective of these new connectors is to make it impossible to connect tubes used for different functions. The first ISO connector standard has already been adopted and others will gradually be introduced and adopted throughout 2014 and 2015. During the transition phase however new risks of tubing misconnections will arise and the Joint Commission is urging hospitals and healthcare providers to take all necessary measures to prepare for the new standards by building awareness and communicate across their facility, prepare and train the staff, adopt the new connectors and measure the accomplished progress.

Download the Powerpoint presentation of the Joint Commission webinar

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fall%20prevention%20in%20residential%20construction.pngFalls from heights are the most common cause of construction workers deaths and this number is especially concerning in the residential construction sector. To address this issue, OSHA is now enforcing similar safety standards in home building and in commercial construction. Despite this effort, falls in residential construction continues to kill thousands of construction workers every year.

Recently a group of researchers from the Washington University of St Louis joined forces with the Carpenters’union and residential contractors to launch 3 initiatives targeting apprentices, foremen and contractors as part of a research study. A revised apprenticeship training taught foremen and contractors how to choose fall prevention methods adapted to each specific situation and subsequently how to communicate these methods to their workers. As part of the study, contractors can also try new fall protection equipment on their construction site.

Participants not only increased their fall prevention knowledge but also communicated better between themselves about fall risks and how to prevent them. The study also led to a higher use of fall protection devices by workers.

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84 year old Ignascio Andal was crossing the street when he was struck by a car driven by a 17 year old driver. The accident happened on Wicklow Place in Jamaica Estates, Queens, NYC, yesterday afternoon. The elderly man who lived just a few blocks away died from his injuries at the hospital. The car driver wasn’t charged.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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Blima Friedman died and her pregnant mother suffered personal injury after they were hit by a 22 year old driver who was working as a valet parker yesterday night around 9 pm in Brooklyn. The two pedestrians were crossing 60th street midblock between 17th Ave and 18th Ave when the accident happened (read more in the NY Daily News.

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16 year old Oscar Hernandez suffered severe personal injury and his mother and sister died in the Harlem gas explosion that destroyed a building on E. 116th street in Harlem, NYC on March 12th this year. The young man spent 11 days in a coma and when he came out of the coma, he needed several surgeries that kept him in the hospital until June 27th. Oscar, his dad and his little sister are the only members of the family who survived the gas explosion. On Thanksgiving all three are happy to be alive and thank all the people who helped them.

Read more in the NY Daily News

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Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

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Picture: courtesy of Wikipedia

After a pedestrian was killed by a reckless cyclist in Central Park a few months ago, the city decided to lower the speed limit to 20 mph from 25 mph in Central Park. Signs will be installed in the next few days and the new speed limit will be in effect immediately after their installation is completed.

Read more in the NY Daily News.

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A man died in a fiery truck accident involving 3 tractor trailers on the New Jersey turnpike last night.

All 3 tractor trailers were traveling in the same direction when one of the truck drivers lost control of his vehicle causing a crash with two other trucks. All 3 tractor trailers caught fire.

The police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

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Picture by NY Scanner

A young man is dead and 14 other people are injured including several of them in critical condition after a massive fire destroyed apartments in a three-story building on Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn, NYC early this morning. The fire broke out above the stores and destroyed all the apartments. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the accident.

Read more in the NY Daily News and see video below

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After two fatal crane accidents killed several people in Manhattan in 2008, 65 safety fixes were identified by consultants but only 8 (12%) of them were implemented, 17 (26%) were partially implemented, 18 (28%) were in progress and 22 (34%) had not been implemented according to a recent audit by New York City Controller Scott Stringer.

In 2008 the Building Department paid CTL Engineers & Construction Technology Consultants $3.9 million to prepare proposals on how to improve safety at New York construction sites and avoid catastrophic crane accidents such as the collapse of a 300-foot crane that killed 7 people on East 51st Street in Manhattan or the collapse of another crane that killed two construction workers 2 months later. The consultants provided a list of 65 recommendations and were paid another $1.9 million to assist the DOB with the implementation of these recommendations. They were supposed to have 49 of the 65 changes implemented in the next two years but they fell far short of that according to Stringer’s investigation.

The audit identified serious weakness in the New York Cit Department Building Oversight that costed tax payers million of dollars.

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A 27 year old driver was killed after he struck a Jersey Barrier on the Belt Parkway in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, NYC. Because he hit the Jersey Barrier at high speed, he then hit a guard rail and the car traveled across 3 lanes before striking another rail. The driver was then ejected from the car and fell on the highway, resulting in his death. The car continued to travel and fell off the elevated parkway onto the ground below. The fatal car crash happened last Monday around 2:00 am.

More information here