A report recently released by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety reveals that your risk of suffering injury as a resident and construction worker increases if you fall into one of two distinct categories. At Hofmann & Schweitzer, we have a firm understanding of the industry and the types of injuries that its workers often suffer, and we have helped numerous clients pursue workers’ compensation following construction site accidents.
According to Salon, your risk of a construction site accident increases if you are a Latino construction worker, or if you work for a nonunion company. Latino construction workers suffered nearly 60 percent of fall-related construction site fatalities in a recent one-year span, despite the fact that they only account for about 30 percent of the construction workforce.
If you work at a nonunion construction site, you also face enhanced workplace dangers. The report indicated that nonunion construction sites fielded twice as many safety violations as union construction sites in 2014. Additionally, in 2015, 74 percent of the nation’s construction sites visited by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration in the wake of workplace fatalities were not union-operated. The study also revealed that nearly 70 percent of all New York construction site inspections, regardless of union or nonunion, turned up safety violations.
While falls from scaffolds, cranes, ladders and so on are among the top causes of construction worker accidents, you also run the risk of suffering an injury or fatality caused by machinery or tools. Chemical burns and electrical accidents are also common causes of construction worker accidents.
