Atlanta is a beautiful city, and construction workers have put in decades upon decades of blood, sweat, and tears to make it and keep it that way. It’s important that we don’t forget the amount of risk that goes into construction work. If you’re in the construction business, you go through a lot of safety seminars and videos, but many don’t realize just how dangerous the job is. We’re here to inform you that if you work in construction, you are at risk. Every year people are injured and even killed in your line of work, and it’s essential to see just how dangerous it really is.
Statistics Don’t Lie
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 4,000 reported cases of construction-related injuries in 2013 alone. That’s about ten construction workers injured per day. Quite a statistic if you’re in the industry. It’s important to know that if you are injured and work in construction, you’re not alone – the state processes thousands of these cases every year. You deserve to be compensated and treated with the same level of respect and dignity as any other individual, regardless of your age, ethnicity, or citizenship status. As such, it’s imperative to reach out to an experienced catastrophic workplace injury lawyer. These cases happen, and often, it’s easy to ignore statistics like these unless we use actual data and actual factual stories. (http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/os/pr137ga.pdf)
Common Risk Factors on Construction Sites
There are several risks construction workers face on the job. OSHA has identified the top causes of injuries on construction sites:
Falling
A worker may fall from atop a building, scaffolding, or even a piece of machinery to the ground below. However, not all falling risks start when the worker is elevated above ground-level — workers can also fall into deep holes or ditches.
Scaffolding Instability
While OSHA has strict rules that ensure scaffolding’s safety and stability, things can still go awry, which may cause workers to fall or to become injured by falling or faulty components.
Trench Collapse
When a trench caves in, unprotected workers are buried under a mass instantaneously, leading to crushing injuries or even proving fatal. Trench collapse is a hazard that few contractors take seriously enough, as most don’t take the soil’s weight into account.
Electric Shock
Handling generators, power tools, heavy machinery, and electrical wiring puts construction workers at risk of electrical burns or electrocution.
Failure to Use Proper Protective Gear
Hardhats, safety glasses, and other PPE, such as high-res vests, should always be worn on construction sites to mitigate the risk of injury.
Repetitive Motion
When the body repeatedly does the same things over and over, muscles and soft tissues may become worn and damaged, resulting in limited mobility and soreness or pain that’s only exacerbated by continued work.
In addition to these common injuries and their causes, construction site workers could be hurt by several other considerations, including traffic accidents, ladder collapses, malfunctioning equipment, other workers’ errors, and accidents with potentially dangerous tools or machinery.
Workers on construction sites who experience accidents can sustain various serious injuries, including:
- Knee and ankle injury
- Neck, shoulder, or back injury
- Eye injury, including vision impairment
- Broken bones
- Spinal cord injury, including damage that results in paraplegia or quadriplegia
- Conditions and illnesses induced by toxic chemical exposure
- Head injury and/or brain injury
Construction Injuries in the News
On June 23, 2015, OSHA was sent out to investigate the death of a construction worker at a mill site in Augusta, Georgia. For an undisclosed reason, the construction worker fell from a permanently mounted crane. He fell more than seven stories before hitting the ground and was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by medical professionals.
According to The Augusta Chronicle, Dick Jackson, the mill’s manager stated, “last night’s incident is a tragic reminder of why we are committed to safety in everything we do.” While it’s important to consider safety, you should also consider proper representation to get your loved ones the compensation they deserve in the event of your death on the job.
On June 29, a young 22-year-old construction worker was installing roofing for a new building in the Ball Ground section of Atlanta, Georgia, when he fell through insulation that had no weight-bearing support under it. The construction worker fell over two stories to his death, hitting a concrete floor. This incident, like many others, is being fully investigated by OSHA in conjunction with the Cherokee, Georgia Sherriff’s Office.
These individuals were simply doing the job they were ordered to do and their lives were put at risk for the sake of completing it. In these unfortunate events, it’s extremely important that you and your loved ones have access to strategic and aggressive legal representation that will fight for you when you can’t fight for yourself. Employers are tasked with the well-being of their employees and negligence is never acceptable, regardless of how minuscule it may seem to them.
Get the Legal Representation You Deserve
Don’t settle for less than what you deserve. Fight for your right to a safe work environment — but if you don’t get a safe environment and you do end up injured, you deserve legal representation so that you can get the compensation you deserve in your time of need. Don’t hesitate. Contact us today at (470) 285-8246, or save the number just in case you end up needing it in the future. We’re considered some of the best worker’s compensation lawyers in and around Athens, Georgia.
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