Construction Accident Lawyer OSHA Injury Attorneys

 

CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT LAWYER MINNESOTA OSHA

Construction site accidents are too common in Minnesota. Unfortunately, safety standards are not enforced at some construction sites. It depends on management and if they are motivated to avoid dangerous situations, rather than just speed along the project. Further, even if management follows all OSHA requirements, a construction accident injury can still happen from simple negligence. Our construction accident lawyers have represented people injured in a work accident for more than 25 years.

Of course, workers will usually receive workers compensation after an on the job construction site accident. However, workers comp in Minnesota does not fully compensate the injured employee. As one example, workers compensation only pays 66% of the employees’ wage loss. Generally, you cannot sue your employer after a work accident. However, when you contact a construction site accident attorney at our office, we will thoroughly explore whether there is another party also responsible. We may be able to get more complete compensation for your injury from the third party.

SUING A THIRD PARTY FOR CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT INJURY

For example, a lawyer in our office once represented a belly-dump driver who was rear ended by a bulldozer owned by another company. Our client received workers compensation benefits from his employer. However, we successfully brought a claim for additional compensation against the employer of the bulldozer operator.

There are some situations where the property owner may be at fault for the construction site accident. This could be because of failure to warn of a dangerous condition on the property. The injury could also occur because of some other negligence, e.g. a power line what was live that should have been disconnected, causing electrocution. There also cases where a defective machine causes injury at work. A top MN construction site injury lawyer will go through your specific situation on the phone or when we meet with you in person.

Here is some information from an OSHA website regarding construction accidents.

Federal OSHA is a small agency; with their state partners they have approximately 2,200 inspectors responsible for the health and safety of 130 million workers. They have to cover more than 8 million work-sites around the nation. This translates to about one compliance officer for every 59,000 workers.

Federal OSHA has 10 regional offices and 90 local area offices.

OSHA budget

The OSHA budget has barely gone up over the last 10 years. Far more funds should be allocated to this important agency.

Worker injuries, illnesses and fatalities

4,405 workers were killed on the job in 2013 [BLS preliminary 2013 workplace fatality data] (3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers) – on average. That is 85 a week, or more than 12 deaths every day. (This is the lowest total since the fatal injury census was first conducted in 1992.)

797 Hispanic or Latino workers were killed from work-related injuries in 2013-on average, more than 15 deaths a week. That is two Latino workers killed every single day of the year, all year long.

Fatal work injuries involving contractors accounted for 17 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2013.

A man on a backhoe digging a hole.
Injured Working at Construction Site MN Attorney

Construction’s ‘Fatal Four’

The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, followed by struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/between. These ‘Fatal Four’ were responsible for more than half (58.7%) the construction worker deaths, BLS reports. Eliminating the Fatal Four would save 468 workers’ lives every year.

  • Falls – 294 out of 796 total deaths in construction in CY 2013 (36.9%)
  • Struck by Object – 82 (10.3%)
  • Electrocutions – 71 (8.9%)
  • Caught-in/between – 21 (2.6%)

Top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards

The following were the top 10 most frequently cited standards by Federal OSHA in fiscal year 2018:

  1. Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  2. Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  4. Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  5. Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  6. Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  7. Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  8. Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  9. Machinery and Machine Guarding, general requirements (29 CFR 1910.212) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
  10. Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]

OSHA is Making a Difference

  • In four decades, OSHA has had a dramatic effect on workplace safety.
  • Since 1970, workplace fatalities have been reduced by more than 65 percent. In addition, occupational injury and illness rates have declined by 67 percent. At the same time, U.S. employment has almost doubled.
  • Incredibly, worker deaths in America fell from about 38 worker deaths a day in 1970 to 12 a day in 2012.
  • Worker injuries and illnesses were down-from 10.9 incidents per 100 workers in 1972 to 3.4 per 100 in 2011.

INJURED IN CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENT MN LAWYERS

If you have been injured at work in a construction accident in MN, call our office and speak with a top lawyer for a free consultation. Our best construction site accident attorneys will discuss your case with you. We will explore whether you have a claim against a third party so that you can be more fully compensated for your work injury. We have offices in Minneapolis, Woodbury, Edina, and St. Louis Park. A construction accident injury attorney can also meet you at your home in St. Paul MN, Roseville, Forest Lake MN, or Lino Lakes. Also, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Rogers MN, Plymouth, Chanhassen, Chaska, Albert Lea, Prior Lake MN, Burnsville, Richfield MN, and other cities throughout the state.