Injuries From Coil Stacker Accident On Construction Site Case Settles Before Trial

Injuries From Coil Stacker Accident on Construction Site Case Settles Before Trial

A production supervisor, William Schilbe, was injured when he was pinned against a coil stacker machine while trying to free a stuck copper coil at a construction site in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The coil stacker was built and installed a year before the accident by ASMAG Anlagenplanung Uned Sondermaschinebau Gmb H, an Austria-based custom machine builder. The machine is designed to stack coils eight high in two separate towers. Each coil measures eight-feet wide by two-feet tall.

On the day of the accident, Mr. Schilbe climbed up a conveyor leading to the stacker machine and leaned over a frame, attempting to free the leg of the coil stuck inside the stacker. As he was adjusting the coil, Mr. Schilbe instructed the machine operator to turn on the machine and resume operation. When this happened, the machine’s load bar came down and pinned Mr. Schilbe against the frame on which he was leaning, causing him to become diaphoretic and cyanotic until he was rescued.

As a result of the construction site accident, Mr. Schilbe spent three months in the hospital and underwent surgery to repair a vein in his abdomen that was severed, a hernia and his duodenum. Mr. Schilbe also suffered post-traumatic depression, chronic pain syndrome and L1 and L2 transverse process fractures. He spent two years in occupational, physical and massage therapy treatment. And though cleared for light-duty, Mr. Schilbe is restricted to sedentary work because he tires easily, and he treats his post-traumatic stress disorder and depression with medication and counseling.

Mr. Schilbe sued ASMAG Anlagenplanung Uned Sondermaschinebau Gmb H for product liability, alleging a design defect, but before his case went to trial, the case settled for $2.2 million. If you or someone you love has been in an accident at a construction site due to unsafe working conditions, call the construction accident attorneys of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.