A construction site is a workplace with more health and safety rules and regulations than almost all others, and with good reason. Unfortunately, however, in spite of such tight safety measures, accidents can and do still happen. Here in Buffalo NY construction accident lawyers work around the clock on cases, which generally tends to happen in big cities where there is plenty of construction going on. Not all accidents are the fault of the construction company of course, and that is what legal teams work hard to ascertain. What cannot be denied however is the number of accidents which do take place, and these are some of the most common.
Falls On Site
Each year we see more than half of all accidents on a construction site involving a fall. What is most interesting about this kind of injury is that finding blame is very difficult indeed. Given the sheer volume of slip and trip hazards which exist on site, and which for the most part are unavoidable, the onus is often on the worker to watch out for hazards. With this being said there are always instances whereby someone has left something out which they shouldn’t, resulting in someone else falling.
Electrocution
The effects of this kind of injury can be greatly damaging and result in nerve damage, burns, and even cardiac arrest. Given the sheer volume of wattage which is found on a building site, electrical safety is of paramount importance. Whilst every effort is taken to ensure safety around wiring and electrical equipment, accidents can happen when care is not taken.
Falling Objects
There is a very real reason why hard hats are required whenever any person walks onto a building site, and that is the high risk of falling objects. Items can fall from scaffolding or from the upper areas of a building for a number of reasons from human error to high winds. We have seen cases where people have been struck by falling tools, concrete debris, and even windows, and whilst hard hats don’t completely eradicate the injury risk, they do greatly minimize it.
Repetitive Strain Injuries
One of the trickiest areas of the law when it comes to injuries which have been sustained on building sites are repetitive strain injuries. This is something which we are seeing an increasing amount of, especially from workers who have been on sites since before tight health and safety restrictions were introduced. The reason for the difficulty in proving blame in this kind of situation, is that there is no instant event which has happened, but rather slow damage over a long period of time. With this being said however, it is a very real risk for those working on building sites, that they face mobility issues or long-lasting injuries after performing the same tasks over and over again.
It is always critical that you follow the letter of the law whenever you set foot on a construction site.