Three people were injured on the job when a scaffolding collapsed at a construction site in Grapevine Wednesday of this week. The accident occurred at the Gray Wolf Lodge.
Construction work is one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. Construction workers are exposed to a wide variety of hazards and face a greater risk of work-related injury or fatality than employees in any other U.S. industry. Recent labor statistics from Bureau of Labor Statistics Injuries Illnesses & Fatalities (IIF) division demonstrate this. Findings show the largest number of fatal work injuries in 2003 was in the construction sector!
An estimated 2.3 million construction workers or 65% of the construction industry work on scaffolds frequently. Protecting these workers from scaffold-related accidents would prevent 4500 injuries and 50 deaths every year at a savings for American employers of $90 million in workdays not lost. In a recent BLS study seventy-two percent of workers injured in scaffold accidents attributed the accident either to the planking or support giving way or to the employee slipping or being struck by a falling object. All of these can be controlled by compliance with OSHA standards. Source: OSHA.gov
You can download A Guide to Scaffold Use in the Construction Industry (pdf) form the OSHA website.
Grossman Law Offices represents workplace injury cases such as scaffolding accidents. Feel free to visit our website for more information.
