Preventing Deadly Scaffolding Accidents

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Employees in the construction industry often work at high heights. In order to accommodate for this, scaffolds are constructed. While scaffolds may provide access to otherwise unreachable levels, scaffold protections and safety standards aren’t always adhered to. In fact, scaffolding accidents lead to numerous injuries and dozens of deaths each year. For one year that Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) data is available, there were 61 scaffolding-related fatalities recorded, all of which could have been avoided by compliance with OSHA standards. 

When employees work on a job site, they have a duty to adhere to workplace safety standards; however, they also have a right to a safe workplace, which is often the responsibility of the employer. Preventing deadly scaffolding accidents is possible when all of those on a job site, including employers, do their part. Consider the following tips for preventing deadly scaffolding accidents, and call our lawyers directly if you have more questions about your rights or how to stay safe–

Preventing Scaffolding Accidents

When safety regulations are followed, workers are properly trained, and equipment is effective and properly used, it is possible to prevent scaffolding accidents that could lead to devastating injuries. Tips for preventing scaffolding accidents include:

  • Ensure that all workers on a job site are properly trained. When it comes to preventing deadly scaffolding accidents, ensuring that all workers on a job site are properly trained is a critical starting point. Workers should be trained on all aspects of working on and around scaffolding, including:
  • Fall protection standards;
  • Equipment standards and best practices;
  • Scaffold defects and how to identify them;
  • Common scaffold-related hazards and risks;
  • How to work safely on scaffolds; and
  • How much a scaffold can bear in terms of load capacity/weight.

In addition to the above, it’s also important that workers are trained regarding to whom they should report safety violations and what to do if they notice an unsafe situation. 

  • Implement all safety regulations. All safety regulations that are established by OSHA should be properly implemented These include, but are not limited to, regulations pertaining to accessing different levels of scaffolding, the use of fall prevention tactics and harnesses, secure attachment of scaffolds to buildings, keeping scaffolds a safe distance from power lines, inspecting scaffolds and other equipment before each shift, ensuring that scaffolds have proper guardrails, ensuring that each scaffold and landing is equipped with non-slip tread to prevent slip and falls, using safety netting to protect other workers from falling objects, and more. If you have more questions about all of the safety regulations related to scaffolding, talk to an OSHA attorney who can help you to find answers. 
  • Use basic safety precautions and common sense. In addition to making sure that OSHA rules and regulations are followed, it’s also important to use basic safety precautions and common sense when working on or around scaffolding. For example, working in wet conditions can create slip and fall hazards, and should be avoided. Additionally, it is important that workers always keep their hard hats and other safety gear on at all times, always use caution when climbing ladders to different scaffolding levels, and never engage in running or horseplay on scaffolds. Generally staying alert and aware of one’s surroundings, inspecting a site before beginning work, and working at a safe pace is key, too. Of course, any safety violations that are noticed should immediately be reported. It is against the law for your employer to retaliate against you for reporting an unsafe condition in the workplace. 

Know Your Rights if You’re Injured at Work

When an unsafe condition exists and workers are injured as a direct result, it’s important to know what the process is for recovering compensation. Through the workers’ compensation system, a worker who is injured on the job has the right to file a claim for benefits, including medical benefits and some lost wage benefits. In cases where a third party was to blame for the accident, a third-party liability claim can also yield compensation for non-economic benefits. 

Call OSHA Injury Attorney for Help 

If you are injured at work or have concerns about the safety of your workplace, you are not alone. If you have been injured as a result of a scaffolding accident you should contact an OSHA Injury Attorney immediately so they can provide you with advice about what your legal rights are, and represent you if you decide to pursue damages. To learn more about scaffolding safety regulations and what to do when injured in a scaffolding accident, please complete our contact form and we will forward your information to a qualified workplace injury attorney.

Construction Site Safety

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The construction industry sees a disproportionate number of worker injuries and fatalities, the majority of which are preventable. For both employers and employees alike, construction site safety is an extremely important consideration that shouldn’t be overlooked. Consider some of the following best practices and recommended guidelines for keeping construction sites, and the workers who are at them, safe and injury-free. If you have been injured on the job, please reach out to an OSHA Injury Attorney directly to learn more about your rights and how our law firm can help.

Staying Safe: Know Hazards in the Workplace

When thinking about construction site safety and how to mitigate risks, it is first important to consider the potential hazards and the most common causes of injuries to workers. As reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the potential hazards for workers in the construction industry include:

  • Repetitive motion injuries;
  • Trench collapses;
  • Lack of use of personal protective equipment (PPE);
  • Electric shock and arc flash/arc blast;
  • Falls from heights; and
  • Scaffold collapse.

Most worker fatalities in the construction industry are a result of falls, electrocution injuries, caught-in/between machinery injuries, and struck-by-object accidents. Controlling for these accident types is essential.

In addition to familiarizing oneself with common hazards and injury types, it is also important to review OSHA’s most commonly cited construction violations.

Improving Construction Site Safety

Improving construction site safety requires a multi-pronged strategy and approaching safety from all angles. Recommendations for improving construction site safety include:

  • Adhere to OSHA regulations. All operations within the construction industry have an obligation to comply with OSHA regulations, which can be found These regulations provide guidance for a wide range of safety and health issues, including general safety and health provisions, safety training and education, recording and reporting of injuries, and more.
  • Develop a job site safety plan. All construction operations should have a job site safety plan in place that accounts for OSHA’s recommendations and guidelines. A job site safety plan for the construction industry should include information about worker training, tools and equipment, inspections, protective equipment, and more. The safety plan should be something that everyone who works on the site is intimately familiar with.
  • Mitigate common hazards. As stated above, there are common hazards, such as the risk of falls, that cause a disproportionate number of worker injuries. Implementing policies and protocols to mitigate these types of accidents specifically can help to keep workers safe. For example, an article from Constructive Dive recommends improving fall protection on the job site by setting uniform requirements, communicating expectations early and often, ensuring that workers receive training on all equipment and safety gear, planning ahead, and “closing the revolving door,” which refers to limiting the number of times that workers are rotated from one site to the next, as people will gain more experience (which helps to keep them safe) by staying at the same site.
  • Protect crews from external threats. External threats are those risks to construction workers that are outside of the direct job site, such as reckless third-party drivers. Employers should have a plan in place to control for external threats, especially when working on roadside construction sites and other high-risk areas. For example, equipping hardhats with especially bright lights for workers who are working at night on a roadside construction project may help to make these workers more visible to drivers.
  • Consider mental health in your safety plan. Many employers only think about the risks to a worker’s physical health when designing a safety plan, but mental health should be a consideration, too. Mental and emotional health is not only more difficult to discern, but it can play a role in the safety of the affected worker themselves and others on the job. Like the rate of workplace injury, the rate of worker suicide within the construction industry is disproportionately–and tragically–high. Supporting workers’ mental health is an important consideration for construction site employers. 
  • Monitor and improve. Finally, remember that in improving construction site safety, the process requires a level of adaptive management – that is, continued learning while doing. When circumstances change, new tools or safety gear are introduced, workers rotate, or the task at hand shifts, the safety plan should be updated and reevaluated for relevance. Continued monitoring of workers and improvement of a safety plan can help to keep everyone safer.

OSHA Injury Attorney’s Mission

The goal of our OSHA Injury Attorneys is to make sure that workers have access to information about their rights and how to stay safe in the workplace. When workers’ rights are breached, it is important that they seek the guidance of an attorney who can provide guidance and legal support in helping workers pursue damages and recover compensation. If you have concerns about your employer’s failure to meet OSHA safety requirements, or if you have been injured on the job, please complete our contact form and we will forward your information to a qualified workplace injury attorney.