Construction sites can be a hazardous work environment given the countless lurking dangers that could, in an instant, cause death or serious injury to workers, site visitors, and passersby. By their very nature, construction sites are unstable environment. In 2018, about a fifth of all workplace fatalities in the US involved construction and extraction occupations.
Whereas there are at least thousands of different ways a worker could be hurt or killed at a construction site, most construction accidents will fall into the following major categories.
1. High Elevation Falls
Construction workers are often required to perform their roles from high elevations such as cranes, ladders, rooftops, and scaffolding. Falls from such elevated locations are the number one cause of construction site injury and has led to safety measures like requirements to wear a fall protection harness when working at heights.
Accidents may occur when a worker standing near an open-sided floor steps sideways or backwards without looking. It could also happen when a worker stumbles and falls while navigating a stairwell with no guard rail.
The human body is fragile. Even a fall from a height of just 10 feet can cause serious injury or death. The degree of injury depends on how the person strikes the ground and whether they had an underlying medical condition.
That is why it is important to participate in an Elevated Work Platform Operator Training Program to know how to safely operate the type of elevated work platform specific to the operation.
2. Slips and Falls
Falls from height aren’t the only falling-related hazard you’ll run into at a construction site. Slips and low elevation falls can be deadly too. These construction accidents are usually linked to unsafe surface conditions such as wet or slippery ground, uneven terrain, exposed stakes, uncovered holes, trailing cables, unused materials, and accumulated debris. The worker suddenly loses their stability and falls to the ground.
3. Falling Objects
A construction site is work in progress and comprises numerous moving parts. Sometimes, improperly secured objects such as scaffolding, building materials, equipment, and even a fellow worker, can fall from roofs, cranes, ladders or other high elevation. They could then strike a worker or passerby down below.
Given the substantial weight of the average object at a construction site, the impact from the object falling from height can lead to death or severe injury on anyone it lands on.
4. Electrocution
Construction electrocution occurs when a worker, visitor or passerby directly or indirectly comes into contact with a live power line or an exposed electrical outlet. Construction sites are often replete with power lines, exposed wiring and the unfinished installation of electrical systems.
Usually, these accidents happen because workers aren’t aware that a particular overhead power line, underground electrical cable, a damaged receptacle or an object connector is energized. In rarer instances, electrocution could happen because a worker without the requisite training and experience attempts to resolve an electrical problem on site.
An example of a scenario that would lead to electrocution is a worker carrying a metal ladder in a vertical position while oblivious of an energized overhead power line.
5. Trapped Between Objects or Materials
It’s standard practice for construction workers to avoid standing between an immovable object and an unsecured heavy object or a piece of heavy equipment. Sometimes though, given the amount of movement occurring onsite at any given time, it isn’t always possible for workers to anticipate what direction a moving or out-of-control object will go.
Workers could also get caught up in their role and not be aware of the danger around them. The person’s body parts could get trapped, crushed, squeezed, severed or compressed.
6. Machinery and Equipment Accidents
Construction sites are teeming with a plethora of power tools and heavy equipment that range from bulldozers and cranes to nail guns and jackhammers.
Machinery and equipment accidents may be triggered by various factors such as electrical failure, mechanical defects, one-off miscalculation, inadequate training of workers and the absence of proper safety equipment. A nail gun may misfire, a large truck backup into a worker, or a forklift fails to operate properly.
Note that non-powered hand tools aren’t necessarily harmless. Workers are routinely hurt by knives, saws, screwdrivers, spanners, pliers, and hammers. Nevertheless, the injuries from non-powered tools are often minor and easily treated.
Conclusion
These different types of accidents can make a construction site seem like an extremely hazardous work environment where an injury is inevitable. On the contrary, construction site safety procedures have come a long way.
The overwhelming majority of construction site accidents can be prevented by consistently adhering to safety best practices while applying common sense. Each year, numerous construction projects run their course without experiencing a fatality or serious injury.
