What Are the OSHA Fatal Four Construction Injuries?

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the fatal four construction injuries are the deadliest construction site injuries in New Jersey. Because of the high risk of serious injury, employers have a triple safety responsibility in this area. Employers must provide proper safety equipment, effective use instructions, and stress the importance of this safety equipment.

The latter two responsibilities are often an issue in New Jersey. Employers must transmit instructions and emphasis in a language workers clearly understand. About a third of New Jerseyans speak a language other than English at home.

The fatal four construction injuries are also perhaps the most preventable construction site injuries in New Jersey. However, mostly for cost reasons, many employers don’t take necessary precautions. To them, employee safety is an unnecessary additional cost, since they already have workers’ compensation insurance. Many people are less likely to buy security systems if their goods are fully insured.

Fatal four survivors may have several legal options under state law. Only an experienced Newark personal injury lawyer effectively evaluates your case and sorts out these legal options. We realize that legal action is probably the last thing on a family’s mind in the wake of a fatal workplace accident. But, quite frankly, these families need money to move on with their lives, and a skilled attorney knows how to obtain it.

Falls

When buildings are under construction, their floors are usually covered with dirt and other debris. A wrong step could mean a serious slip-and-fall injury. A fall from a height is even more likely to be fatal. Most people don’t survive a fall from higher than four stories above ground level.

Internal hemorrhaging is often the official cause of death in these cases. Falls cause internal organs to grind and bump against each other. The friction usually causes severe bleeding, since internal organs don’t have protective skin layers. Such internal bleeding is hard to detect and locate, especially for emergency responders who don’t have sophisticated diagnostic equipment. It’s also hard to stop at a hospital.

Construction companies could prevent most or all fatal falls if they stressed PPE (personal protective equipment) use, like a safety harness, perimeter protection, and gap sealing, as well as ladder and scaffolding safety.

Usually, these victims are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, such as lost wage replacement and medical bill payment. Even if a pre-existing or non-work condition contributed to the risk and/or severity of a work-related fall injury, a Hudson County personal injury lawyer can obtain full benefits in fall injury cases.

Electrocution

These injuries sometimes overlap with falls. When a person touches a live electrical wire, the power surge arc blast usually throws the victim through the air. If the victim was far above ground at the time, a deadly fall is almost inevitable.

Other times, an electrical surge triggers involuntary muscle contractions in the hand (the no-let-go response). If that happens, the victim touches a wire that’s hotter than the surface temperature of the sun for at least one or two seconds.

Those few brief moments are more than sufficient to cause third or fourth-degree burns. Such wounds require extensive, and expensive, treatment at regional burn centers. Additionally, the average burn injury-related hospital stay is much longer than the average injury-related hospital stay. As a result, medical costs skyrocket.

Co-worker negligence, such as a failure to double-ground an outlet, properly secure a live wire, or warn about overhead power lines, often causes electrocution injuries. In these cases, a Mercer County personal injury lawyer may file a civil claim.

If a lawyer proves negligence, or a lack of care, additional damages are available, such as compensation for emotional distress and other noneconomic losses.

Struck By

Falling objects often cause serious injuries at construction sites. If Tim drops a wrench on his foot, he might break his toe. If Tim drops a wrench from fifty stories above ground, the victim will sustain a much more severe injury.

Hard hats prevent some, but not all, head injuries. As mentioned above, distributing such equipment and posting a “hard hat required” sign isn’t enough. Employers must also enforce the rule and tell workers why the rule is important.

TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) kill about 50,000 Americans every year. These injuries are permanent and degenerative. Dead brain cells don’t regenerate.

We should pause and mention that a translator may be insufficient. People from the same country, like people in New Jersey, don’t necessarily speak the same language. For example, people from Oaxaca, a state in Mexico, speak an Indian language instead of Spanish.

Many companies ignore their legal obligations to warn workers, and many companies ignore their legal obligation to buy and maintain workers’ compensation insurance. Many other employers lie about payroll size, number of workers, and other risk factors. In fact, employer workers’ compensation fraud is a far greater problem than worker fraud.

A civil claim is also an option in these cases. Additionally, since lying employers cannot use some key legal defenses, it’s easier for a Mercer County personal injury lawyer to prove negligence.

Caught Between

This final category usually includes incidents like motor vehicle collisions and dangerous excavation trench injuries.

Work-related motor vehicle collisions usually involve delivery drivers or other such workers. Workers’ compensation usually doesn’t apply to coming and going commuting injuries. At busy construction sites, many victims are caught between a large motor vehicle and a fixed object, like a retaining wall. Adding to the danger, many large construction vehicles have poor sight lines and many operators have little or no experience behind the wheel.

Defective products, mostly bad tires, cause a significant percentage of vehicle collisions. Usually, manufacturers are strictly liable for any injuries their defective products cause. Other legal options include public nuisance, which is basically a tort that could injure hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously, and a negligent failure to warn customers about a known deficiency.

Many unreinforced construction trenches are prone to collapse, and the victim is caught between the falling rubble.

Once again, workers’ compensation usually covers caught between construction trench injuries. These no-fault benefits replace lost wages and pay medical bills. However, insurance companies don’t hand out these benefits like candy on Halloween. Lawmakers have steadily reduced workers’ compensation insurance premiums over the years. Since there’s less money in the system, attorneys must work hard to obtain a fair-sized piece of a shrinking financial pie.

Reach Out to a Diligent Morris County Lawyer

The compensation available in a job injury claim eases the pain of a construction worker’s sudden death. For a free consultation with an experienced job injury lawyer in Newark, contact CourtLaw. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.