Construction Accidents Are Rising
Whether you are working inside an office cubicle or outside at a construction site, safety should always be a priority in the workplace. Skipping out on safety training or precautions could not only cause serious injury but it could even result in a fatal accident. In 2014 there was over 4,000 recorded fatalities and more than 3 million injuries in the workplace, a vast improvement from 40 years ago when workplace fatalities averaged out at 14,000 a year, according to The Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
The Fatal Four
A large sum of these statistics come from construction accidents. It is reported that one in five fatalities are the result of a construction “fatal four” tragedy. The four leading causes of fatal accidents are due to falls, electrocutions, being struck by falling objects and getting caught-in between objects and equipment.
Just last month on July 19th, a large crane that was being used to construct a replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge, a New York City bridge, came crashing down over the Rockland County side of the bridge. Fortunately this accident didn’t result in any fatalities but it did cause injury to three motorists and an onsite construction worker, according to The New York Times. The incident brought traffic to a standstill throughout the city but with the bridge being used by more than 138,000 vehicles per day the outcome could have been much more tragic.
A similar accident occurred earlier this year in downtown Manhattan. A 600-foot-tall construction crane was at full length during a winter snowstorm when it came crashing down onto city buildings and parked cars during the early morning of January 30th. David Wich, a 38-year-old Upper West Sider, was standing on Worth Street when the crane came down on top of him, according to The New York Post. Unfortunately Wich died almost instantly from the accident while many other nearby pedestrians suffered severe injuries.
With constant expansion and improvement in New York City, construction is unavoidable. Over the last year more than 88 million square feet of new building has gone up, according to The New York Post. While construction is increasing, the number of construction site-safety inspectors has dropped and the number of deaths have spiked.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration
With an increase in construction, comes more responsibility for safety. According to Dino Domina, a personal injury attorney in Bronx, New York it is the legal responsibility of construction employers to maintain a safe environment for their employees. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has set certain safety measures to maintain a safe workplace, and protect the workers from the following:
- Scaffolding
- Falls
- Excavations
- Ladders
- Head Injuries
- Hazard Communication
- General Construction Health Provisions
- Electrical Injuries
However, when these rules are disregarded, preventable accidents occur causing injury or wrongful death.
“The more jobs we have, it either means fewer workers doing more work, or more new workers who may not have as much experience or training”, said Richard Anderson, President of the New York Building Congress.
According to a 2015 New York Times article, the mayor has proposed an increased budget for the Buildings Department for the current year to increase workers safety. Since the proposal, New York City Department of Buildings has added 5 new safety infractions as well as updated two rules already in effect, in efforts to prevent injuries and fatalities.