Orange barrels indicating roadwork abound on New York roads, and it is not unusual to see workers erecting a new building or working high on scaffolds renovating an existing building. However, construction work is hazardous and according to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration results in many fatalities every year.
The statistics
Overall, OSHA reports that 5,333 workers lost their lives on-the-job in 2019. This amounts to more than 100 deaths weekly on average. Of these, around 20% of worker deaths in the private industry in 2019 were in the construction industry. This accounted for one-fifth of workplace fatalities in 2019.
Top causes of workplace accidents in fiscal year 2019
In the U.S., construction work can lead to job-related deaths. Falls are a common cause of construction worker fatalities, particularly when working on scaffolding or ladders. In the general industry, common causes of workplace deaths include: poor hazard communications, lack of control of hazardous energy, lack of respiratory protection, use of powered industrial trucks, lack of fall protection training, lack of machinery and machine guarding and lack of eye and face protection.
Seek assistance if you are injured on-the-job
If you are injured on-the-job, you may find it difficult to cope with the healing process and the many expenses that come with it. For this reason, if your injury was due to the negligence of a third party, it may be possible to pursue a claim for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. If you lost a loved one in a construction accident, you may have legal options as well. Our firm’s website has further information on construction site accident that readers of this blog may find useful.