Things to Take Note Regarding Construction Accidents

Are you aware of someone who have been injured or killed in a construction site? Perhaps all of us know the dangers of construction worksites. It is a fact that many a family have lost a breadwinner because of a construction accident.

Workers in the construction industry do not comprise a very big percentage of the total number of United States workforce. However, concerning worker injury and fatality rates, the construction industry sector has one of the highest percentages of such among all other industry sector in the country.

The basic causes of almost all construction accidents are fairly due to equipments used, work methods and site conditions. Here are some of the noted cases about construction accidents caused by equipments used:

- unsafe equipment

- improper installation of equipment parts and components

- inadequate maintenance of equipment

- misuse of equipment

- failure to use or misuse of safety equipments or gadgets

- workers’ lack of proper training in using equipments

Meanwhile, accidents occurring because of improper work method and unsafe work site condition may range from failure to install proper warnings and signs to failure in clearing or cleaning up a work area.

Many problems can be encountered involving ladders, scaffolds, areas of excavation, heavy equipments usage. There are also severe incidents involving burns, electrocution, explosions and even poisoning.

Depending on the work site condition, some workers may also incur work-related illnesses.

It is a fact that some construction sites have poor attitude regarding safety and security that leads to many injuries and even fatalities.

The question is who gets the blame in these cases?

First, regarding the federal government’s responsibility, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA is the agency in charge of enforcing the federal laws concerning the safety, security and health-friendliness in every workplace.

It works like this, the OSHA releases regulations based on the federal laws. Then, the head contractor of a construction site has the responsibility to take note of the OSHA regulations applicable to his or her work site. He or she will then impose measures and guidelines that will make sure that the entire site is safe and secure according to the regulations of OSHA.

Prime contractors have the main responsibility for ensuring compliance since they have the most influence regarding safety and security issues. They are the ones who supervise and coordinate the operation in the construction site and usually provide the equipment needed by the subcontractors and employees.

In cases when the head contractor delegates his responsibility to a subcontractor, then the responsibility for going over the safety rules and regulations in compliance with the OSHA rules falls into the subcontractor’s obligation. However, both the subcontractor and the head contractor still share the responsibility.

If in case an accident occurs, it does not mean that the prime contractor or the subcontractors are immediately liable for it. Depending on how and where the injuries where sustained are among the main points considered.

Construction injuries may involve various parties. Some may not be initially liable in the outset and have limited liability. It would depend on the “how” a victim sustained his or her injuries.

Owners and manufacturers of heavy equipment and the manufacturers of the equipment’s faulty component that caused the accident may both be charged with personal injury cases like product liability. Meanwhile, the contractor or subcontractor can also be charged with negligence in case they have been lax on imposing a safety guideline that resulted to injuries.

However, to get claims without having to file a lawsuit, the Worker’s Compensation Laws of a state can cover an employee who has sustained injuries or illness from a construction accident. The employee does not have to prove any one’s liability for the injuries and can still get monetary payment for damages.

Filing for a lawsuit can also be helpful in getting to the bottom of a certain accident and learning lessons from it so that such accident do not happen again.