What’s OSHA Got to Do With It? Tennessee Construction Injury Stats

Tennessee is like any other state in the nation. We employ many honest, hardworking citizens in our construction industry. And these workers deserve our best efforts at keeping them safe on-the-job. Yet accidents occur much more frequently than we might hope, making workers’ compensation claims necessary and sometimes even civil action in Tennessee construction accident lawsuits.

In the most recent report by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the findings for the calendar year 2010 are startling.

Overall, 4,690 American workers were killed on-the-job in 2010. This translates to almost 13 deaths each and every day. Approximately 18.7% of these fatalities occurred in the construction industry. OSHA has compiled a list of what they call construction’s “Fatal Four” and indicates that “Eliminating the Fatal Four would save 437 workers’ lives.” Here are the actual numbers:

• Falls caused 264 out of 774 deaths in 2010, or about 34% of all construction-related fatalities.
• Electrocutions accounted for 76 deaths, or 10%.
• Being struck by an object killed 64 people, or about 8%.
• Caught-in/between accidents caused the deaths of 33 more, or 4%.

The primary function of OSHA is to promote and oversee health and safety standards for American workers. Yet, on many construction job sites, you will see these standards being shortcut, modified or even ignored. The top ten most frequently violated OSHA safety standards overall, are all found on Tennessee construction sites. They include:

• Scaffolding
• Fall protection
• Hazard communication
• Respiratory protection
• Control of hazardous energy
• Electrical wiring methods, components and equipment
• Powered industrial trucks
• Ladders
• Electrical systems design, general requirements
• Machine guarding

If you or a loved one has been the victim of a Tennessee safety standard violation on-the-job, you will most likely receive workers’ compensation benefits. However, sometimes these benefits are not enough, run out too soon, or are denied. This is when you need to contact a Memphis construction accident attorney.

At Bailey & Greer, we offer a compassionate, caring and aggressive representation to our clients. Call us today to see if we can help you.