A Houston man says he suffered severe injuries to his neck, leg, wrist and back when he fell off a safety wall he was working on in August 2012. The man has sued three parties, asserting that a dangerous workplace caused the accident.

According to his complaint, the plaintiff had been delivering material for a community safety wall in a Galveston County subdivision when the accident occurred. The plaintiff said that a crane-forklift operator, who was employed by one of the defendants, began taking the appropriate steps to take the materials off of the plaintiff's truck and set it into place.

However, the complaint states that one of the company's personnel asked the plaintiff to assist by climbing on top of the wall to help put the materials into place.

The plaintiff said he complied, but then the crane-forklift operator made a miscalculation and knocked him off the wall. The plaintiff said he fell 12 feet onto a concrete floor, causing "extensive" injuries.

The complaint also showed that an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Health and Safety Administration revealed that the defendant company did not provide the plaintiff with proper safety equipment -- namely fall protection -- and did not train and certify the crane-forklift operator in a proper manner.

The plaintiff has asked for a jury trial and monetary damages in the complaint, but does not state how much he is seeking.

Frequently after workplace accidents, OSHA will conduct an investigation and issue a report naming any safety violations, if any. These reports can be very useful in personal injury lawsuits brought by workers who were injured in the accidents.

Source: The Southeast Texas Record, "Houston man sues after being knocked off wall by worker," John Suayan, Jan. 16, 2012