How Risky is Construction Work and What Should You Do If You Get Hurt?

The construction industry is a risky place to work. There’s no doubting this fact because it’s borne out by the health and safety statistics. It’s a high paying profession for skilled workers but it’s also true that it comes with additional safety concerns for workers. Also, it’s perhaps a greater worry that older construction workers are more at risk than younger ones, but hopefully most of older employees are in management by the 30s or 40s and ostensibly are away from the construction site.

Safety in the Construction Industry

When looking at historical accident data for the construction industry operating within the NYC area, just under 110,000 people were employed in the construction industry in 2010. The reported incidents in 2010 amounted to 157 in total. In 2011, this declined to 128 injuries and five fatalities.

The level of safety for construction workers has improved over the years with new regulations, better safety gear like hardhats and protective workwear and new safety procedures. The training of all staff on how to avoid accidents by being more conscious of the need to stay alert to potential dangers or increasing risks when procedures break down has contributed to a safer work environment.

Indeed, some sites display information at the entrance about how many consecutive days they have operated without an accident as a testament to their determination to avoid accidents and prevent injuries to workers.

What Injuries are the Most Likely in Construction?

Whilst falling off scaffolding, walls caving in during excavation or incidents involving machinery causing bodily injury are fairly rare, they do happen. However, around 40 percent of accidents happen on building sites due to falls. Also, roughly a quarter of injuries are caused by objects falling on a worker, which could have been building materials and other items.

With falling objects, there’s the prospect of a brain or neck injury although hard hats help reduce this likelihood somewhat. Shoulder and back impacts when bent forward as the object lands can cause serious injury too, which could require surgery or ongoing chiropractic care to reduce the chronic pain associated with a spinal injury or nerve damage.

Injuries from falls can include back injuries, broken arms or legs, and miscellaneous other possible damage. It depends on how high the fall was and how the person landed as to the severity of a fall.

How Can You Get Compensated for Them?

It depends on the cause of the accident and whether there was negligence on the part of the employer whether compensation can be sought.

Compensation is often used to pay for medical care, follow-up procedures and ongoing treatment where the injury becomes chronic. It’s always best to consult with a construction accident lawyer NYC based, to let them determine whether there’s a good case or the possibility of obtaining a settlement is remote. When there’s negligence, it’s usually worth exploring what the possibilities are.

Working in any industry where there are considerable risks when just going to work means extra care must be taken at all times. This in itself helps avoid many potential accidents before they happen.