California residents who work on construction job sites may understandably want to be regularly tracking the safety statistics associated with their line of work and industry. Construction is known to be a highly dangerous industry but that does not eliminate employers’ responsibility to provide a safe workplace for construction workers. Sadly, that does not happen all of the time and many people are injured or even killed in construction site accidents.
The National Safety Council indicates that violations for fall prevention are the most common issued while falls themselves remain the leading cause of death among construction workers. Another factor known to be a big contributor to construction fatalities is being struck by objects. According to information from the Center for Construction Research and Training, over 800 construction worker lives were lost between 2011 and 2015 in incidents in which a person was struck by an object.
Construction fatalities as a whole increased 26 percent in that timeframe. In the same five years, deaths attributed with workers being caught between or caught in areas jumped by 33 percent. Of those who died in these incidents, 67 percent were killed by some type of material collapse. Clearly more is needed to be done in order to keep workers safe on construction job sites.
Workers or their family members in California who need help after a construction job site accident might want to consult with a lawyer for guidance on their compensation options at these times.
Source: Construction Dive, “Report: Caught-in, caught-between construction deaths rising,” Kim Slowey, March 20, 2018
