Deaths from terrorist attack deaths gain lots of attention, but as the Huffington Post recently pointed out, Americans are hundreds of times more likely to die in a workplace accident.
The Huffington Post notes that a fire and explosion in a Texas factory that killed 14 people and injured 200 gained far less attention than the bombings at the Boston marathon, which killed three.
Anyone working in the construction industry knows well the dangers of the workplace. Although construction injuries have declined each year since 2006, the industry continues to face the second-highest number of workplace fatalities. In 2011, construction accidents killed 721 people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (The highest occurrence of workplace fatalities is in transportation and warehousing.)
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has regulations to prevent accidents and ensure safe working conditions. Conditions that violate OSHA standards are a major cause of construction accidents, which is inexcusable. As OSHA points out on its website: “Despite its high fatality rate, construction can be a safe occupation when workers are aware of the hazards and use an effective Safety and Health Program.”
If you or a family member has been injured on a construction job, contact the New York and New Jersey accident attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd, L.L.P., We help people who have been hurt on the job recover more money than workers’ compensation alone.