Look at any ranking of the most dangerous jobs, and you’ll find construction is always near the top of the list. Why is that? Well, in addition to many employed in this field spending a lot of time working outside in the elements, they often work around potentially toxic substances like paints and stains, asbestos-containing items, and more. What poses one of the biggest dangers, though, are the tools, machines, and heavy equipment that workers like yourself use that are likely to cause construction site injuries. Keep reading, and we’ll discuss what poses the biggest dangers around where building occurs.

What To Know About Construction Focus Four Injuries

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) compiles statistics regarding certain workplace dangers. It has a “Construction Focus Four” list, which it contends are the leading causes of nonfatal and fatal injuries in this industry. Those four areas of concern and the different types of tools, machinery, and equipment that make them so dangerous include:

• Falls:  Ladders, scaffolding, and roofs are most commonly responsible for these. From wear and tear to ineffective design, manufacturing, or assembly, and the non-existence or misuse of fall protection like harnesses or tethers, these are just some of the many reasons why falls occur. 
• Caught-in or between: Caught-in incidents where someone’s body part (like an arm) gets stuck inside machinery, like a cement mixer or chipper, perhaps because there’s no safety guard on them or because they malfunction. Caught-in-between situations may include those in which someone becomes trapped between two inanimate objects or one stationary and one moving one, like a wall and a forklift or car.
• Struck-by: These situations most commonly stem from tools, like hammers or drills, dropping from a higher level and striking a person down below, which can include a worker just a few levels down or even a passerby walking down a sidewalk. The use of tethers and nets can greatly minimize the chances of a drill, saw, and other construction tools falling and unexpectedly striking someone.
• Electrocution: These incidents often occur because electrical cords are exposed to extreme temperatures along with humidity, rain, and more outdoors, extension cords are run, and lines aren’t grounded. All of these can increase the potential of an electrocution occurring. So, too, can strike an overhead cable or wire with a tool, machinery, or heavy equipment, such as saws, buckets on bulldozers, etc.

Other Dangers Leading To Injury and Death Among Builders

Aside from the dangers posed by the fatal four highlighted above, the potentially dangerous machines or equipment and tools used on building sites are vast. 

In terms of tools, some of the ones with the highest potential to cause harm include:

• Pneumatic tools like nail guns and paint sprayers: These tools rely on the use of compressed air to operate, as it’s what propels nails or paint at a fast rate. Damage to the tank or regulator can cause the air compressor to explode, essentially sending toxic substances such as paint or sharp objects like nails flying, which can cause eye problems, skin irritations, puncture wounds, and more. Plus, with a nail gun, there’s the risk of nailing one’s finger instead of a shingle or other intended object.
• Power saws: The blades on these electric-powered saws oscillate at extremely fast speeds. In terms of a circular saw, all it takes is a safety guard having been removed and a distraction or poor placement of your fingers, legs, or arms for you to sever it. Another potential danger table saws particularly pose is kicking back wood that strikes the user if it isn’t properly inserted. 
• Power drills: Although often not perceived as dangerous as saws, they can cause a wide range of injuries. Materials being drilled into can fly up, getting in a user’s eyes, a person can get distracted, and the tool can move so fast that it strikes and punctures their finger or bore into their leg, or someone can suffer an electric shock while using the corded version of the tool.

As for machinery, construction workers have to be particularly careful when using:

• Generators: Construction sites often lack electrical service, which is why builders bring in generators to power their tools. These run off of combustible gas, propane, or diesel fuel, all of which can easily ignite. Additionally, damaged cords connected to these units make workers vulnerable to suffering an electrical shock.
• Routers: Cuts (lacerations) and eye injuries are two of the more common injuries individuals who use wood routers suffer. Eye protection and gloves can minimize the risks of construction workers getting hurt. 

And when it comes to heavy-duty equipment, the following are the most likely to harm workers:

• Dump trucks: These are often involved in struck-by incidents whereby they back up and strike unsuspecting bystanders. However, other injury risks they pose involve their truck beds. If the operator leaves it up and moves about a construction site or takes to the road, there’s a chance that it will strike a power line or it will suddenly fall, crashing someone underneath. These trucks are also often responsible for dumping loads unexpectedly atop someone, which can leave them buried underneath.
• Cranes: Statistics compiled by The Center for Construction Research and Training show that a crane accident happens every 10,000 hours when this type of heavy equipment is utilized. Most of these incidents occur because they’re overloaded, not level, and operated in windy weather against manufacturer limits. Dangers they pose include the potential of unexpectedly dropping their loads or tipping over.
• Backhoes, bulldozers, and excavators: These all feature buckets, shovels, or a long flat blade and are strong enough so they can move heavy materials like dirt or gravel and building materials on construction, demolition, mining, and other job sites. These pose many dangers, from striking someone nearby or potentially toppling over with the operator inside or on top of a bystander to striking gas lines underground, resulting in toxic exposure and explosions. There’s also the electrocution risk, as we described above when discussing OSHA’s fatal four.

Other types of dangerous “tools of the trade” often utilized in construction zones that cause serious or fatal injuries include ladders or scaffolding, forklifts, and jackhammers. 

Getting Help If You’ve Been Hurt On or Near a Construction Site

When it comes to the Raleigh legal scene, our firm, Green Mistretta Law, PLLC, is well-known for its advocacy on behalf of personal injury victims. Our work centers around helping those who suffered harm at no fault of their own simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time, like innocent bystanders passing by a construction site. We also represent building contractors harmed when using dangerous tools, equipment, or machines in filing third-party claims. And last, we help construction crew members harmed on the job navigate the North Carolina workers’ compensation process when they’ve been seriously hurt. 

We know you have a lot on your plate in trying to recover from your injuries or perhaps a loved one’s premature passing. Let a personal injury lawyer from our office advise you of your rights, including whether you’re eligible to file a lawsuit against the party or parties that contributed to causing your injuries. An initial consultation with one of our attorneys is completely free, so contact us for a meeting now.