The Greatest Hazards to the Health and Safety of Construction Workers
Construction sites are filled with potential hazards, from heavy equipment and power tools to electrical lines and excavation work. One way to make construction sites safer is to look closely at what has gone wrong in the past. By studying construction incidents, researchers and safety professionals can identify patterns, understand common causes and determine which safety measures may help prevent similar incidents in the future.
A recent study did just that, analyzing more than 10,000 construction incidents between 2014 and 2020. Researchers identified 40 different types of hazards and found that 10 high-risk hazards accounted for 81% of all incidents. The study also found that residential construction had the highest number of recorded incidents at 2,057.
Falling objects were the most common hazard, accounting for 19.59% of all incidents. The other nine high-risk hazards were:
- Working at heights
- Hand tools
- Manual handling
- Vehicle collisions
- Moving construction equipment
- Fixed equipment
- Electrical power lines
- Electrical installations
- Excavation work
The study grouped the most common hazards into three broad categories:
- Hazards Related to the Work or Task (working at heights, using hand tools and manually handling materials)
- Hazards Involving Other Workers or Equipment (vehicle collisions, moving equipment, fixed equipment, and falling objects)
- Hazards Built Into the Work Environment (electrical power lines, electrical installations, and excavation work)
The study highlights an important point about construction safety: telling workers to “be careful” isn't enough. Preventing injuries requires a combination of worker training, appropriate protective equipment, effective supervision, safer equipment and thoughtful site design. Increasingly, technology may also provide additional tools for identifying hazards and warning workers before an incident occurs. Most importantly, safety should be considered from the beginning of a project, not after something goes wrong.
As a worker, you have the right to a safe workplace. If you have been injured on the job and believe it came from a misstep by your employer, another vendor, or a defective product, you might benefit from the help of a top Philadelphia construction injury law firm.
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