Common Workplace Injuries
Construction Work Risk Factors
Construction accident statistics confirm information about how work injuries occur each year. Never assume that your employer has taken all safety precautions and measures when arriving at a construction site.
According to the 2010 Census, construction accidents for builders, roofers and subcontractors have ranked at an all time low since the late '90’s. This may be because many workers are out of work or they’re taking more precautionary measures.
This isn’t always the case and the reality is that over 1,000 workers nationwide will die from a construction site work related accident in 2012. An additional 10,000 workers will be hurt from an accident at a work site. All of these incidents can be prevented if both employers and employees would take the time to work together and be more cautious.
Workers get hurt when safety regulations are ignored, hazardous equipment and machinery isn’t serviced on time, signs forget to be posted where safety is a concern and ongoing training is no longer a priority. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced falling hazards are the primary cause of injury at construction sites. Second and very close to the leading cause of injury was first hand contact with equipment resulting in a lost limb.
Construction workers between 24 and 35 years old are most likely to be injured at a site.
The most common area of the body to be injured is the lower back and spine. Heavy lifting and the use of incorrect body mechanics were named as the top two admitted reasons for work injuries by employees.
In 2005 over 1,200 men died at construction sites, making it the deadliest job nationwide that year. Injuries while falling or coming in contact with dangerous machinery aren’t the only ways to get hurt at work. Recently, a lawsuit was filed in Oklahoma against an employer and several workers for an accident that occurred in 2010. Two welders are claiming negligence for a gas well project that went wrong and resulted in brutal burns and injuries to the face, neck, chest, hair and scalp which left lifelong scars. Both men argue the company was negligent when instructing other workers to release the gas and direct the welders to remain on the lift even after questioning the safety of what was going on. The employer and the welders’ supervisor instructed them to stay where they were and assumed it was safe, according to the lawsuit filing.
The US Chemical Safety Board investigates serious chemical accidents and is an independent federal agency appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. A significant number of fires and unsafe injuries have been occurring over the years as technology increases and they investigate the most serious ones. To help the overloading amount of construction work accidents, the US Chemical Safety Board is supporting the Environmental Technology Council, a hazardous waste trade group. It has begun a petition to development a national standard with hopes of improving safety practices at hazardous waste treatment plants across the nation. Currently, each state regulates their safety practices and it’s not a solid system.
If more employees and employers would team up and prevent these tragedies from occurring, a federal agency wouldn’t have a reason to step in and generate practices for all states to follow. It takes everyone working as a team to make a safe work environment or face a lifetime of pain and suffering from an injury.