Construction Falls Prove Fatal (and Preventable), Again and Again
Falls are the leading cause of construction accident deaths, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Just this week, a worker in San Francisco was killed when he fell from a four-story residence he was working on. The hardest thing about these tragic accidents is that they are all preventable.
According to the San Francisco Gate, 51-year-old Jose Plancarte was found lying on the ground near his worksite last Wednesday morning. There were no witnesses to the accident, but it’s believed he fell from the stairway he was working on. According to investigators, depending on where he was working, he fell between 12 and 35 feet.
Plancarte was working on a scaffold near a stairwell when it happened.
Fall deaths are preventable, and OSHA puts forth much effort to ensure they happen as rarely as possible. Still, they do happen, and they are often deadly or, at the least, result in serious injury.
Whether you are a roofer or a general laborer who spends time on scaffolds, anytime you are working above another level, you are at risk of falling. While there were 264 construction fall deaths in 2010, 255 of them were falls to a lower level, indicating that when you work at an elevation, your risk is similarly heightened.
In OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign, they recommend a three-pronged approach to preventing falls. That includes planning, providing proper equipment, and training.
While you, as a construction worker, must do your part to keep yourself safe, it’s also the responsibility of the foreman, the site manager, and even the property owner to keep you safe. Through proper training, providing the right equipment, and ensuring the property is devoid of additional risks, these parties play a major role in whether or not all workers make it safely home at the end of the day.
When they fail to provide one of the above, they can be held responsible for any accidents that might occur. In other words, if your accident isn’t entirely your fault, someone must be held accountable for your injuries and the resulting costs.
Construction Fall Accident Lawyers
At Ginarte, the New York and New Jersey construction accident attorneys work to bring justice to workers who are seriously injured on the job. If you’ve been hurt, we may be able to help. Contact us today by calling 888-GINARTE now.
