15
2009
Construction Work Potentially Deadly
One of the most dangerous industries that reports high personal injury statistics is the construction industry.
Many construction sites have their fair share of minor accidents, as that seems to be the nature of the job. Unfortunately for the workers on site, deadlier accidents also take place like the collapse of scaffolding, electrocution, burns, amputations and crush injuries. The fact of the matter is that the construction industry ranks as number one when it comes to the number of on the job injuries sustained each year.
Across the United States there are approximately 250,000 construction sites at any one given time, with close to 6 million construction workers plying their trade. For every 100,000 construction workers on the job, at least 23 will die in a work-related accident. On many, if not all of the sites, there is scaffolding that poses a real hazard to people’s safety and lives in more than one way.
Not only can the scaffolding collapse, tip or disintegrate, there is the very real danger of falling material and tools striking people on the ground. Workers who are dealing with laying electrical wire and other potentially dangerous utilities, such as running gas lines, also face significant personal injury risks on the job site.
The US Department of Labor is predicting that over 1,000 workers will die this year as a result of sustaining a construction site injury. Those who do not die from their wounds may be permanently disabled and unable to work again. Interestingly enough, the second leading industry in terms of high numbers of personal injuries and deaths was the trucking business, reporting over 500 deaths. Some of those deaths involved crane accidents, something that has been in the news quite frequently as of late.
Turning to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for further statistics in this area, they show there were ten top factors in construction worker injuries and death. These factors included the number one spot going to scaffolding, hazard communication, fall protection, respiratory protection, lockout/tagout (LOTO), powered industrial trucks, electrical wiring, machine guarding, general electrical maintenance and ladders. Lockout/tagout refers to a safety procedure of shutting down dangerous machinery and not starting it again until maintenance and servicing has been completed.
Workers that have survived a workplace injury or those that are grieving a wrongful death need to consult with a highly skilled personal injury attorney in order to ensure justice is done. The attorney will be able to guide claimants through the difficult process of securing damages for severe injuries or to obtain just damages for a negligent wrongful death.
To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.
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