The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has identified what they call the Focus Four (formerly Fatal Four) construction hazards.
While there are many ways to get hurt on a construction job site, these risks account for the highest number of injuries and fatalities:
- Falling from heights and slip-and-fall accidents
- Being struck by falling objects or vehicles
- Getting caught in trenches or between trench floors and fill material
- Being electrocuted
In 2023, the Texas Department of Insurance noted a slight decrease in construction deaths in Texas. Although only 126 workers lost their lives in 2023 compared to 141 deaths in 2022, these losses still make up 22% of all workplace injury-related fatalities.
Those who survive accidents involving these four categories often experience disabling injuries that could be due to negligence or carelessness by the employer or a third party.
Other Common Construction Site Injuries
Construction sites are full of heavy equipment, toxic substances, and uneven terrain.
Additionally, the noise, dust, and other environmental factors can make it difficult to determine the extent of risks. All employees and employers are required to follow OSHA PPE guidelines and use appropriate safety gear to protect themselves and each other.
When someone fails to take the appropriate precautions, you can suffer catastrophic injuries, including the following:
Burns
Construction sites contain a variety of hazards, many of which involve flammable chemicals that can cause explosions. When someone stores or uses these substances incorrectly, they can ignite, causing explosions and fires. You can also suffer chemical burns if you don’t have the right safety gear to prevent contact with your skin or inhaling the fumes.
You can also suffer thermal burn injuries from a variety of occupational hazards, including electrocution, heat from a fire, steam, hot liquids or objects, high temperatures, and sun exposure. Suffering second- and third-degree burns could lead to loss of sensation in the area or loss of tissue and nerve function. In the most extreme cases, you could lose a limb or suffer widespread infection and death.
Electrocution
Electrocution injuries can include nerve damage, muscular problems, cardiac arrest, or electrical burns. Employers should provide equipment and work environments with proper insulation, guarding, and other protective measures. When construction companies fail to ensure their workers are protected from electrocution, the consequences can be life-changing and even deadly.
All employees must follow appropriate lockout tagout procedures when working with high voltage. Outside contractors that provide maintenance or repair services could be responsible for malfunctions that cause you injury. If so, your construction accident attorney can work to establish their liability.
Eye Injuries
The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports that nearly 20,000 eye injuries occur each year in the workplace. Most are caused by particles striking or scraping the eye after being blown off from tools or even blown into the eye by the wind. If items fall from above and strike a worker’s eye, damage can be more severe and even penetrate the eye.
In addition, chemicals can get into the eye and cause serious harm. Workers can also suffer eye strain from extended time spent watching monitors or working in bright sunlight. Proper safety gear and regular breaks can alleviate damage, but many construction employees still develop more severe eye conditions and qualify for compensation.
Head and Brain Injuries
Head injuries can range from a bump or minor concussion to life-altering or fatal brain trauma, which makes it imperative for an injured construction worker to seek immediate medical attention after a workplace head injury. Brain injuries are difficult to diagnose because they may not show over physical symptoms, and they can be incredibly costly to manage, often with lifelong consequences.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the majority of work-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are in the construction industry.
A staggering 25% of these TBIs resulted in death, with the greatest number happening in smaller companies and to older workers.
Broken Bones
Construction sites are notorious for causing broken bones from falls from a height, dropped objects, slip-and-falls, and workplace motor vehicle accidents. Minor fractures may keep you out of work for a shorter amount of time, but these are rare among the many dangers in construction. A compound fracture, where the bone is exposed outside the body, can take many months to heal and puts you at risk of serious infection.
Depending on the location and how quickly the break is treated, you could require additional corrective surgeries for a full recovery. You may also be more at risk for developing arthritis or other mobility issues later in life as a result of a severe break.
Toxic Exposure Illnesses
Construction sites use a variety of materials, many of which are toxic to humans. Exposure to toxic chemicals can cause burns, rashes, throat problems, lung injuries, and more. Common substances that are the source of workplace toxic exposure include asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, hydrochloric acid, carbon monoxide, silica, sulfuric acid, and more.
Employers must limit worker exposure to these substances according to OSHA regulations. They must provide appropriate safety gear in working order for all employees who need it and ensure all employees have necessary training. They must also install clear and correct signage indicating the danger.
Spinal Cord Injury
Workplaces that are tough on the body, like construction sites, generally have a higher incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI). Since the spine helps your brain communicate with the rest of your body, an SCI can negatively impact your life forever, impacting various aspects of your health – both mental and physical. Victims can experience loss of sensation from the neck down or anywhere along the spinal column.
In many cases, damage to the nerve tissue in the spinal cord can leave you unable to return to work. You may even be permanently disabled from working at any job again. In these instances, your construction accident attorney can seek compensation from those at fault for your lost earning potential and projected medical costs.
Lower Extremity Injury
Leg, ankle, and knee injuries are extremely common in construction work. These lower extremity injuries will keep laborers out of work completely, as they disable them from doing their physically demanding jobs. You could suffer these conditions as a result of a sudden accident or after years of heavy lifting and repeated movement.
Upper Extremity Injury
Neck, shoulder, and back injuries are also common industrial injuries for construction workers. These can take the form of whiplash, herniated discs, muscle strain, sprains, cervical radiculopathy, and more. The symptoms don’t always appear in the immediate aftermath of a workplace accident and require a thorough medical examination to identify the condition and its potential impact.
In some instances, the employer’s insurance provider may question whether you actually suffered a neck, shoulder, or back injury at work.
They may claim you hurt yourself in some other way and deny your claim. By working with an experienced construction injury lawyer who will collect your medical records and other evidence, you have a stronger chance of pushing back for the compensation you need and deserve.
Crush Injuries
When construction workers work with or near heavy equipment and complex machinery, they run the risk of suffering crush injuries. Your body or an extremity can be caught in machines like these, causing hands, arms, legs, and other body parts to be crushed beyond repair. Employers must provide adequate training to everyone on a job site and ensure all machinery has proper guarding in place to prevent these traumatic workplace accidents.
You can also be crushed by falling objects or by materials such as sand, gravel, wood, steel, or other building elements. These injuries often require emergency medical treatment at a hospital. You can pursue coverage for your ER, ICU, surgical, and other medical costs through an insurance claim or third-party lawsuit, depending on who is at fault for your injury.
Act Quickly if You Are the Victim of a Houston Construction Site Injury
If you are filing an employer-provided insurance claim, you only have 30 days to report your injury and begin the claim process. If your circumstances require you to file a third-party lawsuit against a vendor, contractor, visitor, or other entity, you must submit your paperwork to the court within the two-year statute of limitations. If you miss this deadline, you could be left paying for your injuries out of your own pocket.
If you believe someone’s negligence led to your workplace injury on a construction site, schedule a case review with our construction accident attorneys. They will need time to gather all the relevant documentation and prepare your case for the best outcome. The faster you contact them, the sooner they can help you resolve your claim.