On a construction site, workers rely on their eyes to perform tasks and assess danger. However, injuries to their eyes could compromise their vision and their ability to perform this work in the future. What should construction workers know about eye injuries? Eye injuries are a common risk in construction...
When you think about work-related injuries in the construction industry, you may immediately think of falls or accidents related to power tools and heavy equipment. However, another danger may be in the air around construction workers throughout their day. What should construction workers know about the risk of lung disease?...
Many adults experience hearing loss over time from natural causes, such as aging. Even technology is working diligently to make it easier for aging adults to address hearing disabilities early on with hearing aids, special headphones and other listening devices. However, there are ways to accelerate the healing loss process...
As August approaches, most employees fantasize about autumn leaves and cooler weather on the horizon. However, construction workers are still in the midst of the hot summer days across Pennsylvania. They have to work every day, despite dry heat or extreme humidity. They need to make sure the projects are...
Construction work is in full swing in the summer months across Pennsylvania. While construction workers face hazards every day, one of the most consistent and severe risks is falling. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry. In...
Warmer spring weather signals the start of construction across Pennsylvania on roads, bridges, buildings and more. This also marks the time for employers, property owners and construction site workers alike to take measures to guard against the potential for serious accidents. Construction sites can pose constant risks for workers. These...
Anthony De Santos was operating a forklift at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom on April 23, 2014 to move a steel column. He used a tagline to control the forklift while he walked beside it. De Santos was pulled in front of the forklift’s wheel after a sudden stop, and...
In construction work, dangers come from all corners: powerful equipment, heavy machinery, electrical hazards and, of course, heights. Gravity is the single biggest peril construction workers face. Whether you regularly work at high elevations – for example, as a roofer or sheet metal worker – or only do so for...
Cranes play a critical role in construction. Many jobs simply wouldn’t be possible without them. However, as large, heavy pieces of equipment, cranes can be dangerous to both the workers who operate them and those in the vicinity. Anyone who works on cranes or in close proximity to them should...
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its yearly list of the 20 deadliest jobs in the nation. While many of the jobs on the list come as no surprise, there are some that people don’t generally consider dangerous unless they are in the industry. People expect to see...
Hazards in the construction industry take many forms. Safety education often focuses on sudden, catastrophic accidents – such as falls, explosions, trench collapses and vehicle accidents. However, another category of injuries takes place over time. Long-term damage to the body is common in construction work. Because these injuries don’t arise...
The existence of OSHA regulations isn’t the only reason that construction companies need to adhere to rigorous safety training standards. When it comes to reducing risks on the job, the best strategies aren’t always obvious. It’s up to employers to teach their workers the right ways to protect themselves and...
When a deadly accident happens on a construction site in Pennsylvania, three general groups of people are typically going to contact the employer. Experts often refer to these groups as three audiences. The Government First off, the government may carry out an investigation into the accident to see if the...
A construction accident happened out on the Garden State Parkway, back in 2012, and seriously injured a man. That man was a pile driver who was connected to Local Union 454. While he was working close to mile marker 39.3, which is in Galloway Township, N.J., a steel pipe apparently...
The best way to keep workers from being hurt on the job in Pennsylvania is simply to understand what the biggest hazards are and to take steps to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. A few ways to do this are outlined below. Electrocutions Electrocutions are consistently among...
Often the most dangerous aspects of a job are not the work itself but rather the environment in which the work takes place. The construction industry is one example of this. These workers must often do their jobs in relatively unsecured locations such as other people’s property or along Pennsylvania’s...
Construction represents a huge portion of the many industries that make Pennsylvania thrive. If not for workers in the construction industry Pennsylvania residents would not be able to enjoy the infrastructure of the state’s cities, not to mention the residential homes the industry provides. Unfortunately, construction workers are at risk...
Work-related soft tissue injuries affect the body’s muscles, tendons, discs, nerves, ligaments and cartilage. Examples of these types of injuries include back issues like strain and, more seriously, herniated discs. Soft tissue injuries can also occur in the upper body affecting the neck, the shoulders and other areas of the...
We know that construction workers face some of the most dangerous job conditions of anyone in the workforce. That sad fact was brought home here in Pennsylvania on June 12. The Uniontown man, just 29 years old, was killed while working on the Burrowes Building at Penn State. The building,...
With tens of thousands of people employed in the Pennsylvania construction industry, safety is often a key concern. This is true for both workers and the contractors who employ these workers. These types of careers involve a variety of tasks such as demolition, roofing, roadwork, carpentry, electrical work and many...
On April 15, a construction worker in Pennsylvania died as a result of critical injuries that he had sustained in a workplace accident two days before. The 36-year-old man was working on an expansion project at the King of Prussia Mall outside of Philadelphia when he was electrocuted. According to...
Pennsylvania construction firms typically carry workers’ compensation insurance to address on-the-job injuries such as those involving nail guns. Although these tools provide important benefits by allowing for greater construction productivity, their heavy use often results in accidents. Proper safety measures may minimize the risks, but it is also important to...
Those who work on roadway construction sites face dangers from moving passenger vehicles, but many accidents are caused by construction vehicles and equipment. Pennsylvania is one of the states with the most worker deaths in these types of situations, and creating and enforcing procedures for construction sites could help prevent...
A construction worker died in a Dec. 3 crash on Route 422 in Chester County. According to police, an SUV struck the 60-year-old worker while he was putting up traffic cones in connection with a planned highway improvement project. The worker died at the scene of the accident, officials said....
A construction accident killed one Pennsylvania roofer and left another seriously injured. The men, who were working for a private roofing company, were putting an aluminum ladder up against a home when it touched power lines. Both men were electrocuted, and the 55-year-old worker died at the scene. The second...
A construction accident can result in serious health and financial implications for a Pennsylvania worker, especially if the incident results in a lengthy recovery time without the ability to work. While workers’ compensation is an important benefit for addressing issues such as medical treatment and lost wages, there may be...
Accidents at construction sites in Pennsylvania often give rise to legal action, such as a personal injury lawsuit. An objective of such a lawsuit is to determine who might be liable for the workplace accident. Depending on the accident, there may potentially be several parties who in the final analysis...
Workplace safety, particularly at construction sites, has become a major issue of concern for many workers in the Pittsburgh area. Two separate accidents, one at a hotel construction site and another at a moving company, involved a scaffolding fall. A majority of workplace accidents in the area were due to...
Several workers involved in a roofing repair project were injured when the scaffolding used in the setting apparently collapsed, causing the individuals to fall approximately 20 feet. The incident occurred on the morning of June 16 in East Deer Township. The vice president of the company who owned the warehouse...
A settlement was reached on May 28 awards $16.3 million to a construction worker who was maimed by a 3,000-pound base stone that fell at a renovation site in Philadelphia. The man was to receive the settlement from four defendants, those being the site’s contractor, the company overseeing the demolition,...
A man who was identified as a temporary employee for Dura-Bond Industries in Pennsylvania was injured in a workplace accident when, according to police, a large steel pipe hit him in the back. Workers were moving the pipes at the Duquesne facility a little after 8 a.m. on Jan. 13...
A Pennsylvania construction worker sustained serious injuries Aug. 30 he became trapped under an asphalt roller. The man was trying to avoid an accident on Saunders Station Road near Monroeville when the roller tipped over on him. The Suit-Kote employee was driving the heavy equipment from one construction site to...
On July 11 at approximately 1:17 p.m., the fourth floor of the science building at Temple University in North Philadelphia collapsed. The building had been under unspecified construction. Following the collapse, workers on the fifth and sixth floors were temporarily unable to leave the building. The portion of the building...
A Philadelphia construction worker recently sustained injuries after falling from a cherry-picker lift. The accident happened at a South Philadelphia warehouse where demolition work was underway. According to police, the construction accident happened a little after 11 a.m. on June 24. According to a police spokesperson, the cherry-picker malfunctioned and...
A construction worker was killed as a result of a fall at a farm in Pennsylvania. The 28-year old man was working on trusses of a barn that was being constructed when the construction accident happened. The man fell 25 feet onto the construction site below. The fall happened during...
Many workers go through their entire careers without any serious injuries, but that’s not the case with everyone who works in the construction field. One of the most dangerous positions in the construction field is that of a crane operator. It may seem as though they’re pretty safe where they...
So much goes into the erection of a building. Every piece of material is held to another with another piece of material. The safety of a structure depends on the right materials being used in the right way. Two young workers were injured in a Pennsylvania construction accident earlier this...
Stopping the building of a hotel is the least of the serious consequences related to a construction accident that occurred this week. In an out-of-state incident, a construction worker was working on an apartment building when he fell and was injured by materials at the site. The victim reportedly fell...
Using an elevator is an everyday thing for many people, whether they live in an apartment complex or work in a multi-floor office. It can be easy to forget that such an everyday convenience can also be a danger, particularly for those responsible for fixing it. Two construction workers were...
Some people, perhaps less handy people, shudder at the thought of using a table saw. It is a sharp, powerful tool that could take a limb if things went extremely wrong. For those who work in construction, a table saw is an everyday tool just as a computer might be...
A 29-year-old construction worker was killed in a workplace accident in early September. Bethlehem Police say that the man was working for a construction company that was making improvements to Route 412. Authorities say that the worker was struck by a roughly 2,000 pound concrete barrier. The concrete barrier reportedly...
A tragic accident happened in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania last week. A construction worker was severely injured when a concrete barrier, estimated to weigh 2,000 pounds, fell on top of him. The man was employed by HRI Inc., who was contracted by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to make improvements on...
Last week we discussed OSHA’s campaign to prevent heat illness among outdoor workers. This week we will touch on another one of OSHA’s major initiatives, fall prevention in the construction industry. Many people may be surprised to learn that falls are the leading cause of fatalities in the construction industry....
Construction workers face a variety of hazards on the job, making construction sites some of the most deadly workplaces in America. A new campaign in Pennsylvania is hoping to change that by focusing on construction accident prevention. The U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety a Health Administration (OSHA) recently launched a...
Quality Stone Veneer Inc., which installs stonework at residential and commercial properties, was recently found in violation of scaffolding safety regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The company, based in Refton, was cited for eight violations, one found to be willful. OSHA proposed $154,440 in fines following a...
Many people may not be aware of the dangers construction workers face each day. For those working in work zones near roads and freeways, they face the additional risk of being hit by motorists passing by. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is implementing a number of measures to make...
Workers injured in a work-related accident are often faced with a number of problems like medical expenses and lost wages. But fortunately they can seek workers’ compensation benefits that often help alleviate the financial challenges that can arise with an unexpected injury. But when a worker is killed in a...
