Construction sites are riddled with things that can cause fatal injuries in a matter of seconds. From scaffolding to escalators, anything can cause an unpredictable accident. According to one study, over twenty percent of construction workers have suffered extensive or even fatal injuries on their worksite. The only proper way of reducing the likelihood of such accidents is to get educated about the most common causes.
As a side note, if you or someone you know has been in a construction site-related accident, then make sure to hire a New York construction accident attorney. Getting proper compensation without the help of a specialized lawyer can be a massive pain. Now with that out of the way, here are a few of the most common construction site accidents.
Falling:
Falling is the simplest yet the most frequent construction site accident. According to some reports, close to one thousand construction workers endure fatal injuries due to falling each year. While each falling incident is different in some way, there are a few repeating occurrences. For example, the majority of falling-related accidents occur due to a lack of proper fall protection equipment. This often comes down to contractors trying to save some money by eliminating harnesses from their spending. This is not to say that worker negligence and laziness to put on the protective gear isn’t a factor in these kinds of accidents.
Slipping/Tripping:
Every construction site is filled with tripping hazards. From random holes and ditches to construction equipment wrongfully placed in the middle of the path, you don’t know what’s going to come underneath your feet. The contractor or manager has an obligation to encourage proper behavior and best practices in their workers. Workers should be taught to stay vigilant, mark tripping hazards with signs and tape, and never leave things in the middle of a walking path. The last point is extremely critical. Even though most workers just passing by can avoid the hazard, someone carrying equipment or focused on a task wouldn’t be able to do so.
Electrocution:
Most if not all of the equipment used on modern construction sites is electrical. This means that there are a lot of high-capacity wires running around all over the place. Getting in bare contact with any of them can cause serious injury or even death in most cases. These kinds of accidents happen only when the equipment is faulty (responsibility of the contractor) or the worker is negligent. It is the duty of any worker to report any faulty equipment and damaged wires as quickly as they can to prevent tragedies from occurring.
Conclusion:
Construction worksite injuries are still an unfortunate part of our building process. We cannot guarantee their prevention, but we can take measures to reduce the chance of something terrible happening. From contractors to workers, everyone on the construction site has a responsibility to be vigilant and take proper precautions to save the lives of themselves and others around them. It doesn’t take much effort to be a responsible person, especially compared to the lives it can save.