"Leesfield and Partners"

Published on: March 15, 2018

Human Error and Defective Construction Design go largely hand in hand

Collapse of Garage on Miami-Dade College Campus in 2012

Whether a developer is trying to make a delivery deadline on a construction project, or cut costs because the project was under-budgeted at inception, or hire fewer workers in the face of safety, typically construction incidents stem from developers, contractors, and subcontractors cutting corners. In recent memory, a garage collapse on Miami-Dade College campus in 2012, which caused injuries to eleven people, including four fatalities, ended in multi-million dollar settlements with the victims and Miami-Dade College. Four years later, the rebuild of the same garage collapsed again, injuring two workers.

In an article titled “Identifying Root Causes of Construction Accidents”, published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, several causes were discussed and ultimately identified after studying thousands of different cases. The authors concluded that one of the top three causes stems from management procedures which create and fail to identify, rectify and remove unsafe conditions that exist on and around a construction site. The other two causes were linked to workers lacking sufficient training or knowledge.

Published on: June 24, 2014

South Florida Roads: Six fatalities under 24 hours

By Leesfield & Partners

In less than 24 hours, South Florida roadways have witnesses four motor vehicle accidents which caused the death of six people. While the number of traffic accident fatalities is in somewhat decline in the State overall, last weekend’s events are a brutal reminder that traffic safety remains the greatest cause for unnatural deaths in Florida.

In Miami Beach, a woman was killed while crossing the street at Rue Granville and Normandy Drive. She was struck by a car on Sunday night and was emergently transported to the hospital. She succumbed to her serious injures at the hospital.

Earlier that day, two women crossing Alligator Alley were killed when they were struck by an SUV near mile marker 63. According to the driver of the vehicle who struck them, the police said the deceased were walking along the median of Alligator Alley and began crossing the road in the direction of their car that was parked in a rest area along the road. The driver of the SUV was unable to avoid them and after hitting the windshield, they both died at the scene.

Published on: June 4, 2014

Electrocuted workers in Miami Beach in critical condition at Ryder Trauma Center

By Leesfield & Partners

On 69th Street and Harding Avenue in Miami Beach, two men working on an apartment complex renovations and repairs were violently electrocuted when they came into contact with a power line.

The two workers’ identities have yet to be released by the authorities, but some of the facts of this incident seem to be without dispute at this early stage. The two men were in the bucket of a cherry picker. A Miami Beach resident whose window was close from where the incident took place, Greg Maas, woke up to loud screams outside his window. When he looked out into the street, he saw the two men laying flat at the bottom of the bucket.

Photo courtesy of wsvn – 7News