An improving U.S. economy is stimulating the construction industry in North Carolina. Across the state, workers are busy building new commercial structures, erecting sports facilities and improving the state’s highways and roads. Employers are hiring again and more work means more money. With more workers on the job, the potential for more construction site accidents increases.
At any industrial job site, workers use powerful tools and equipment to do a better job and get the work done faster. However, these tools can cause serious injury if they are not used properly. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 4,609 workers across the U.S. were killed on the job in 2011.
In 2011, the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) Occupational Safety and Health Division evaluated and investigated a total of 54 occupational fatalities. Of the 54 investigated fatalities in FY 2011, 15 percent were related to being “crushed by” an object, 24 percent were related to “falls,” 35 percent were related to being “struck by” an object, 4 percent were related to “electrocutions” and 18 percent were related to “other.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Division in North Carolina also set up a Special Emphasis Program (SEP) to help lower the number of deaths in the construction industry. In 2011, this SEP:
- Tallied 1,812 inspections (83 percent for safety)
- Issued citations for 62 percent of all inspections
- Cited the construction industry for 2,251 serious, willful and repeat violations
Preventative measures and forced compliance with state regulations cannot guarantee your safety on a construction job site. If you were injured on the job, contact an experienced North Carolina attorney familiar with state and federal regulations regarding workplace injuries.