Every worker has the right to be safe while performing their job. A federal rule, Stop Work Authority, allows full-time and contract employees to speak up and refuse to work in unsafe working conditions.
Accidents at construction sites are more common than you might think. In fact, in 2016, over 20% of all work-related injuries and deaths occurred at construction sites. Because these sites can be so dangerous, employers have an obligation to follow strict safety measures to prevent injuries.
Many different types of accidents can take place at a construction site. From non-threatening scrapes, bumps and bruises to serious debilitating injuries and even death. While some injuries are unavoidable and nobody’s fault, others occur because of the negligence of an employer, manager or another employer.
Working as a construction worker is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. This is because construction sites are inherently dangerous places, and even when following strict safety guidelines, there will always be some risk to workers.
Construction workers, the men and women who build America, do so at risk to their own safety. In fact, every year thousands of construction workers are injured while at work (more so then in any other profession), and sometimes even killed.
While workers are struck by falling objects on many different job sites, construction workers in particular are at risk for these accidents.
Implementing a daily checklist for a job site’s scaffolding can drastically improve the safety of a construction site. Here are some of the most important takeaways that you should be on the lookout for daily in a construction environment.
New York City’s Department of Buildings exists to protect all New Yorkers, construction workers included, from hazardous conditions that may occur on the job. In the last decade, the Department has enacted over 25 new programs and regulations to improve safety at construction sites.
When working at any height above ground, you should be provided with a proper harness to ensure that you yourself do not fall. Assuming your harness is attached to an anchor somewhere on the construction site, you can use a tool tethering kit to link your hand tools to your wrists or to your clothing.
Even if a construction worker’s fall is not deadly, it can cause serious injuries that force the worker to lose time from work and incur financial hardship. Fortunately, New York State’s Scaffold Law protects construction workers by holding building site owners and employers fully liable for worker deaths and injuries resulting from unsafe conditions at elevated worksites.