Construction Site Accidents Are Becoming Increasingly Common

Construction site accidents are becoming more common. But is workers’ comp law keeping pace?

Construction site accidents and related injuries are bound to
receive additional scrutiny as Obama Stimulus disbursements jumpstarts
additional 2009 construction projects under federal auspices. But lax
safety procedures during the Bush Administration tenure also appear to
have contributed to a substantial increase in such events since 2000.
The increase in construction site accidents might have even begun to
rise in the early 1990s.

Consider that in 2008, one in four workplace fatalities were
construction workers. There were 1,225 fatal occupational injuries in
2001 involving a construction site; by 2008 that figure had risen to
2,889.

Examples of such tragedies are common.

· 55-year-old carpenter struck by a drunk driver while working on The Big Dig in Boston, multiple serious injuries resulting.
· 50-year-old union iron worker in Philadelphia fell down a darkened
stairway when a temporary lighting system failed, multiple serious
injuries resulting.
· 22-year-old self-employed roofer fell 25' off a sloped roof in Naples, Florida, permanent paralysis resulting.

Because only about 10% of construction companies employ more than 20
workers, most have no formal job safety regulations or programs in
place.

In 1992, the "lost-workday" rate for workers in the construction
industry was 5.7 per every 100 fulltime workers. In 2007, that rate had
increased to 9.6 per 100 fulltime workers, an increase of nearly 40%
making it the highest such rate of any major economic sector.

Yet jury verdicts in construction site accidents tend to produce
modest settlements in favor of construction workers and other public
sector workers compared to those accidents (less than $250,000) which
involve non-workers (more than $500,000), even if the construction
workers’ injuries were quite horrific. This discrepancy may partially
be linked to a pro-corporate, pro-business trend in the weakening of
workers’ compensation statutes which has been occurring in most
"right-to-work" states since about 1990. In some cases, salaries of
attorneys representing injured workers have been deliberately "capped"
by state legislatures, possibly affecting the quality of legal counsel
afforded to workers, especially those in the construction industry. A
blatant example of such legislation is HB903, a measure passed on May
1, 2009, in Florida.

Tony Francis is an Orlando personal injury lawyer. His practice
specializes in being an Orlando accident lawyer helping innocent
victims get compensation for their losses. To learn more about Orlando injury lawyer, Orlando personal injury lawyer, Orlando accident lawyer, Orlando injury attorney, visit Francislawgroup.com.