People who are not actively engaged in the construction of new buildings or the ongoing maintenance of existing buildings may not have an appreciation for the range of different occupational demands of those who are. Instead, construction work gets reduced to simply erecting a new structure and is judged by the length of time that this single act takes. Those whose daily toils place them in the sometimes chaotic and always dangerous world of construction, however, have a much different and more accurate view of the situation. Depending upon a worker's trade and the specific circumstances of the assignment on a particular project, he or she may face the risk of serious occupational injury.
Construction jobs are consistently among the most dangerous based on the rate at which employees sustain injuries in the workplace that require them to miss one or more days of work. After all, even with the advanced tools that are readily at the disposal of a typical construction crew, the labor remains incredibly arduous. Accordingly, even in the absence of an accident in the workplace, an employee may still suffer injury as a consequence of the normally required physical exertion that is associated with executing normal job responsibilities.
Sources of Danger and Commonly Resulting Injuries
Responsible construction companies take the appropriate steps to ensure that a job site has adequate supervision and that there are sufficient safety measures in place to limit the number and severity of accidents and injuries. But there is nothing that they can do which will wholly eliminate the threat of occupational injuries so it is likely that many construction workers will at some point during the course of their employment have a need to file a claim to receive the workers' compensation benefits that they are due under state or federal law.
These benefits generally provide employees with payment for medical bills associated with an occupational injury or illness and with a partial offset of the wages lost due to prolonged time when one is unable to work. Typically, construction sites are rife the following sources of danger:
- Slip and trip hazards
- Overhead electrical wires and other exposed wiring
- Sharp edges
- Falls from elevation
- Massive machinery and objects incorporated in construction
- Actively used chemicals
Commonly sustained injuries caused by the above include:
- Electrical and chemical burns
- Poisoning
- Amputation
- Severe lacerations
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Crush injuries