19-Year-Old Construction Worker Killed by Backhoe in San Antonio
According to the San Antonio Express-News, a 19-year-old construction worker was fatally injured on the job after being crushed in a backhoe accident on San Antonio’s far west side.
About the Fatal Construction Accident
The construction accident occurred in the 13700 block of Potranco Road at around 10:30 a.m. Officials say 19-year-old Destiny Rodriguez was inside a dig site when the operator of a backhoe, unaware of her location, dropped the bucket on top of her.
The San Antonio Express-News reports that Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the construction site. The operator of the backhoe, also the work site’s foreman, was hospitalized for shock.
Officials say that it is unclear if the foreman was intoxicated at the time of the accident. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Rodriguez was injured at work a week before the fatal accident. Rodriguez told her sister that the same foreman struck her leg with the backhoe, leaving her with a grapefruit-sized bruise.
Another worker claimed the foreman has been careless in the past, reports the San Antonio Express-News. In addition, Rodriguez had previously complained to her sister about how the company didn’t follow safety guidelines.
Many of Destiny Rodriguez’s family members showed up at the site to grieve their lost loved one. Her sister, Rosa, said she was a hard worker and loved her family more than anything.
On the Job Accident Statistics
The following information regarding on the job accidents is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
- A total of 4,836 fatal workplace injuries occurred in 2015.
- The overall rate of fatal work injury for workers in 2015 was lower than the previous year.
- 937 workers in the private construction industry died on the job in 2015.
- In 2015, there were 722 fatal workplace injuries due to contact with an object or equipment.
