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Construction Worker Accident OVERVIEW The U.S. Department of Labor - Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") sets the standards for safety on construction sites and projects. The accidents and injuries that can occur are myriad. Whether caused by an employer or third party, a lawsuit may be filed by an injured employee or site visitor to seek recovery for injuries sustained. Asbestos An estimated 1.3 million employees in construction and general industry face significant asbestos exposure on the job. Heaviest exposures occur in the construction industry, particularly during the removal of asbestos during renovation or demolition. Asbestos is well recognized as a health hazard and is highly regulated. OSHA and EPA asbestos rules are intertwined. Click here for a sample list of asbestos containing materials published by the EPA. Asphalt Fumes More than a half-million workers are exposed to fumes from asphalt, a petroleum product used extensively in road paving, roofing, siding, and concrete work. Health effects from exposure to asphalt fumes include headache, skin rash, sensitization, fatigue, reduced appetite, throat and eye irritation, cough, and skin cancer. There is no specific OSHA standard for asphalt fumes. Click here for information related to exposure to asphalt fumes published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC"). Concrete and Masonry Silica is the basic component of sand, quartz and granite. Silicosis, a scarring and hardening of lung tissue, can result when particles of crystalline silica are inhaled and become embedded in the lung. Crystalline silica may be found in quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. To prevent exposure to air contaminated with harmful particles such as silica, the following references aid in recognizing hazards and possible solutions associated with concrete and masonry construction work. Click here for more information about silicosis published by the CDC. Confined Spaces Many workplaces contain spaces that are considered "confined" because their configurations hinder the activities of any employees who must enter, work in, and exit them. For example, employees who work in process vessels generally must squeeze in and out through narrow openings and perform their tasks while cramped or contorted. OSHA uses the term "confined space" to describe such spaces. In addition, there are many instances where employees who work in confined spaces face increased risk of exposure to serious hazards. In some cases, confinement itself poses entrapment hazards. In other cases, confined space work keeps employees closer to hazards, such as asphyxiating atmospheres or the moving parts of machinery. OSHA uses the term "permit-required confined space" (permit space) to describe those spaces that both meet the definition of "confined space" and pose health or safety hazards. Crane, Derrick, and Hoist Safety Moving large, heavy loads is crucial to today's manufacturing and construction industries. Much technology has been developed for these operations, including careful training and extensive workplace precautions. There are significant safety issues to be considered, both for the operators of the diverse "lifting" devices, and for workers in proximity to them. This page is a starting point for finding information about these devices, including elevators and conveyors, and their operation. Demolition Demolition work involves many of the hazards associated with construction. However, demolition incurs additional hazards due to unknown factors such as: deviations from the structure's design introduced during construction, approved or unapproved modifications that altered the original design, materials hidden within structural members, and unknown strengths or weaknesses of construction materials. To counter these unknowns, all personnel involved in a demolition project must be fully aware of these types of hazards and the safety precautions to take to control the hazards. Electrical Electricity is accepted as a source of power without much thought to the hazards encountered. Some employees work with electricity directly, as is the case with engineers, electricians, or people who do wiring, such as overhead lines, cable harnesses, or circuit assemblies. Others, such as office workers and salespeople, work with it indirectly. Click here for more information about electrical construction injuries published by the CDC. Fall Protection In 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 1,224 construction workers died on the job, with 36 percent of those fatalities resulting from falls. Falls may result from a number of factors, including unstable working surfaces, misuse of fall protection equipment, and human error. Studies have shown that the use of guardrails, fall arrest systems, safety nets, covers, and travel restriction systems can prevent many of the deaths and injuries that result from falls. Fire Safety Workplace fires and explosions kill 200 and injure more than 5,000 workers each year. In 1995, more than 75,000 workplace fires cost businesses more than $2.3 billion. "Fires wreak havoc among workers and their families and destroy thousands of businesses each year, putting people out of work and severely impacting their livelihoods," said Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich (1996, October 8). "The human and financial toll underscores the serious nature of workplace fires." Click here for more resources related to fire safety published by the CDC. Hand and Power Tools Hand and power tools are a common part of our everyday lives and are present in nearly every industry. These tools help us to easily perform tasks that otherwise would be difficult or impossible. However, these simple tools can be hazardous, and have the potential for causing severe injuries when used or maintained improperly. Special attention toward hand and power tool safety is necessary in order to reduce or eliminate these hazards. Click here for more information regarding hand and power tool safety published by OSHA. Hazardous & Toxic Substances Hazardous and toxic substances can be defined as those chemicals present in the workplace which are capable of causing harm. In this definition, the term chemicals includes dusts, mixtures, and common materials such as paints, fuels, and solvents. OSHA currently regulates exposure to approximately 400 substances. The OSHA Chemical Sampling Information file contains listings for approximately 1500 substances; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) Chemical Substances Inventory lists information on more than 62,000 chemicals or chemical substances; some libraries maintain files of material safety data sheets (MSDS) for more than 100,000 substances. Click here for more information regarding hazardous and toxic materials published by the CDC. Highway Work Zones Highway, road, street, bridge, tunnel, utility, and other workers for the highway infrastructure are exposed to hazards from outside and inside the work zone. Falls, electrical, struck-by, and caught between are the common hazards found in this type of work. Laser Hazards LASER is an acronym which stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The laser produces an intense, highly directional beam of light. The most common cause of laser-induced tissue damage is thermal in nature, where the tissue proteins are denatured due to the temperature rise following absorption of laser energy. Click here for an OSHA Technical Manual regarding laser hazards. Lead Lead overexposure is one of the most common overexposures found in industry and is a leading cause of workplace illness. Therefore, OSHA has established the reduction of lead exposure to be a high strategic priority. OSHA's five year strategic plan sets a performance goal of a 15% reduction in the average severity of lead exposure or employee blood lead levels in selected industries and workplaces. In general populations lead may be present at hazardous concentrations in food, water, and air. Sources include paint, urban dust, and folk remedies. It is also a major potential public health risk. Lead poisoning is the leading environmentally induced illness in children. At greatest risk are children under the age of six because they are undergoing rapid neurological and physical development. Click here for additional resources related to lead exposure. Motor Vehicle Safety The majority of fatalities that occur in road construction work zones in the United States involve a worker being struck by a piece of construction equipment or other vehicle. A worker in this industry is just as likely to be struck by a piece of construction equipment inside the work zone as by passing traffic. Click here for a comprehensive report related to worksite motor vehicle safety published by the CDC. Noise & Hearing Conservation Every year, approximately 30 million people in the U.S. are occupationally exposed to hazardous noise. Fortunately, the incidence of noise-induced hearing loss can be reduced or eliminated through the successful application of engineering controls and hearing conservation programs. Click here for additional resources related to construction noise exposure published by the CDC. Personal Protective Equipment Employees working on and around power transmission and distribution systems face great dangers from electrocution, falls, and other serious hazards. Workers employed in the construction of these systems have a risk between 17 and 23 deaths per thousand workers over a working lifetime of 45 years. Scaffolding An estimated 2.3 million construction workers, or 65% of the construction industry, work on scaffolds frequently. Protecting these workers from scaffold-related accidents would prevent 4,500 injuries and 50 deaths every year, at a savings for American employers of $90 million in workdays not lost. In a recent BLS study, seventy-two percent of workers injured in scaffold accidents attributed the accident either to the planking or support giving way, or to the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object. Click here for additional information related to scaffolding injuries published by the CDC. Silica, Crystalline Silicosis is a disabling, nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by overexposure to respirable crystalline silica. More than one million US workers are exposed to crystalline silica, and each year more than 250 die from silicosis. There is no cure for the disease, but it is 100 percent preventable if employers, workers, and health professionals work together to reduce exposures. Click here for additional information related to silicosis published by OSHA. Trenching & Excavation Excavation cave-ins cause serious and often fatal injuries to workers in the United States. An analysis by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of workers' compensation claims for 1976 to 1981 [1] in the Supplementary Data System of the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that excavation cave-ins caused about 1,000 work-related injuries each year. Of these, about 140 result in permanent disability and 75 in death. Thus, this type of incident is a major cause of deaths associated with work in excavations and accounts for nearly 1% of all annual work-related deaths in the nation. Welding, Cutting, & Brazing Welding, cutting, and brazing are hazardous activities that pose a unique combination of both safety and health risks to more than 500,000 construction workers in a wide variety of industries. The risk from fatal injuries alone is more than four deaths per thousand workers over a working lifetime. Chapter 1910 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations generally govern and set forth guidelines employers must follow in making the workplace safe. DaCorsi & Placencio, P.C. Serving California Areas Including:
California Construction Accident Attorneys DaCorsi & Placencio, PC
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