Employers liability and construction occupational injuries
April 2004

Traumatic occupational injuries at work remains a leading cause of death and disability among workers.

Protecting construction workers from injury and disease is among the greatest challenges in occupational safety and health. Assuring safety and health in construction is complex, involving short-term work sites, changing hazards, and multiple operations and crews working in close proximity.

Construction is a high hazard occupation. During the period from 1980 through 1995 in the United States, at least 17,000 construction workers died from injuries suffered on the job. Construction lost more workers to traumatic injury death than any other major industrial sector during this time period.

Construction has the third highest rate of death by injury: 15.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. Only mining and agriculture experience higher rates.

The risk of fall from elevations are present at almost every construction site and many workers are exposed to these hazards daily. Any walking or working surface could be a potential fall hazard. An unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level should be protected from falling by the use of a guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system.

These hazardous exposures exist in many forms, and can be as seemingly innocuous as changing a light bulb from a step ladder to something as high-risk as connecting bolts on high steel at 200 feet in the air.

Based on data from the NIOSH National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) Surveillance System, falls from elevations represent the fourth leading cause of workplace death. The deaths due to falls from elevations have been found to account for 10% of all occupational fatalities.

Motor vehicle crashes are among the leading causes of death among construction industry workers. Employers and workers alike should take preventive measures to limit this hazard.

If driving is part of your job, take the following steps:

• Use seat belts at all times. Let other workers ride with you only when the vehicle has a seat belt for each person.
   
• Always drive within the speed limit
   
• Do not drive if you are fatigued
   
• Be familiar with the maintenance procedures for all vehicle systems.

If you employ motor vehicle operators, take the following steps:

• Conduct driver's license background checks before hiring drivers.
   
• Provide vehicles with seat belts for the driver and every passenger, and require their use
   
• Establish schedules that allow drivers enough time to obey speed limits and that limit drivers' hours of service according to regulations.
   
• Train drivers in safe driving practices and the proper use of vehicle safety features.
   
• Establish procedures to ensure proper maintenance of all vehicle systems.
   
• Make sure that newly purchased vehicles are equipped with appropriate occupant protection and other safety features.
   
• Adopt the legal regulations for commercial motor carriers as part of your motor vehicle safety program.

If you work or employ workers who work in construction or maintenance zones, take the following steps:

• Wear or require workers to wear high-visibility clothing.
   
• Use or require the use of barriers and traffic control efforts when working on or near public roads.

It has been estimated that electrocutions are responsible for a number of deaths that occur each year that could have been prevented. Therefore, a primary goal of occupational safety programs must be to prevent workers from contacting electrical energy. Effective measures include safe work practices, job training, proper tools, protective equipment, and lockout/tag-out procedures.

Prompt emergency medical care can be lifesaving for workers who have contacted either low voltage or high voltage electric energy. Immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) followed by advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) has been shown to save lives.

Electrocution victims can be revived if immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or defibrillation is provided. While immediate defibrillation would be ideal, CPR given within approximately 4 minutes of the electrocution, followed by advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) measures within approximately 8 minutes, can be lifesaving. Certain immediate measures can be used to help save the lives of workers who contact electrical energy. Safety and health officials, and especially those who work with electrical equipment, should bring these recommendations to the attention of owners, managers, and workers.

The following recommendations are useful for limiting losses from electrocution:

1. Prevention must be the primary goal of any occupational safety program. However, since contact with electrical energy occurs even in facilities which promote safety, safety programs should provide for an appropriate emergency medical response.
   
    
2. Safe work practices: No one who works with electric energy should work alone, and in many instances, a "buddy system" should be established. It may be advisable to have both members of the buddy system trained in CPR, as one cannot predict which one will contact electrical energy.
   
   Every individual who works with or around electrical energy should be familiar with emergency procedures. This should include knowing how to de-energize the electrical system before rescuing or beginning resuscitation on a worker who remains in contact with an electrical energy source.
   
   All workers exposed to electrical hazards should be made aware that even "low" voltage circuits can be fatal, and that prompt emergency medical care can be lifesaving.
    
3. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid should be immediately available at every worksite. This capability is necessary to provide prompt (within 4 minutes) care for the victims of cardiac or respiratory arrest, from any cause.
   
   Employers may contact local hospitals or relevant authorities to set up a course for employees.
   
   Provisions should be worked out at each worksite to provide advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) within 8 minutes (if possible), usually by calling an ambulance staffed by paramedics. Signs on or near phones should give the correct emergency number for the area, and workers should be educated regarding the information to give when the call is made. For large facilities, a prearranged place should be established for company personnel to meet paramedics in an emergency.
    

Occupational fatality involving heat stroke is as well a burden to be avoided by all means.

To help prevent such incidents from occurring, the following recommendations have been made:

• Employers should train supervisors and employees to recognize symptoms of heat exhaustion / stroke when working in high heat index and / or humid conditions.
   
• To avoid dehydration and heat stress / stroke, employees should be given frequent breaks and be provided drinking water and other hydrating drinks when working in humid and hot conditions.
   
• Work hours should be adjusted to accommodate environmental work conditions such as high heat index and/or high humidity.

Occupational injuries can be prevented. Although assuring safety and health in construction is a difficult task, taking appropriate measures should limit significantly the human toll. Additionally having in force an insurance policy can cover employers for their legal liability for an accident or occupational disease that their employees may suffer in the course of their employment.

 
Bibliography:

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Construction Safety

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Safety Council