Construction Workers at High Risk of Injury
Posted by
LLFClerk LLFClerkJune 18, 2007 9:55 AMAn increase in the construction industry in King County, Seattle has resulted in more people working in high-risk construction jobs. In 2006 alone, 14 workers died in King County as a result of construction-site accidents. Tyler Scott, a victim of a work related accident, says that construction workers are pressured to produce more and at a faster pace, and safety is compromised as a result.
Although safety at some construction sites may need improvement, the ratio of safety inspectors to workers in Washington is one of best in the country. Rick Gleason, a former work-site inspector, said that safety in the construction industry is getting better. Regardless of safety, however, there will still be about 90 workers killed a year as a result of job-site accidents in Washington state.
One victim of a job-site accident was Cesar Umayam, who fell 15 feet through a roof on a house he was building. He died 25 days after the accident. Cesar's employer was issued five violations and a $6,500 fine after an investigation. The roofing company for that building was fined $18,000.
Incidentally, falls such as the one that killed Cesar Umayam are common in the construction industry. Most of the 1,200 American construction workers killed each year in job-related accidents die because of a fatal fall.
While the industry employs only about 7 percent of the nation's work force, accidents on construction sites accounted for about 21 percent of workplace deaths, Gleason said, citing numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In Iowa, the risk for construction workers being injured in job-site accidents is high as well.
Fatal work injuries in Iowa totaled 88 in 2005, an increase
of 6 from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of
Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This fatality count for Iowa in 2005 was the second highest annual total since 1992 when workplace fatalities were first recorded in the state. The nationwide workplace fatality count in 2005 was 5,702.