New Jersey Accident and Injury Law Blog : New Jersey Injury Lawyer & Attorney : The Grossman Law Firm : Serving Monmouth County, Bergen County

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) earlier this week released a list of the top 10 most frequent workplace violations of 2009. OSHA presented the list at the annual Congress and expo of the National Safety council.   As a New Jersey construction accident lawyer, I was deeply concerned, but not too surprised, to see that the list contained several construction accident hazards.

Leading the list of violations is one that typically involves poor installation or lack of proper safety gear for workers. Scaffolding violations were the most frequent in the US in 2009, with a staggering 9,093 violations. These accidents are easily prevented, by providing workers fall protection systems, following proper procedures for scaffolding installation and training of workers.

Following scaffolding violations on the list are 6,771 fall protection violations.  These are again very easily preventable, through proper worker training and providing sufficient fall protection systems.

Hazard communication violations numbered 6,378. These violations are seen in the chemical industry, when manufacturers and importers often fail to meet OSHA standards for evaluating the risk of the chemicals they handle.

Respiratory protection violations numbered a total of 3,803 this year. These kinds of failures can expose workers to harmful debris, particles, vapors and gases increasing the chances of development of lung diseases and cancer.

Rounding off the list were 3,321lockout-tag out violations, 3,079 electrical wiring violations, 3,072 ladder violations, 2,993 powered industrial equipment violations, 2,556 electrical violations and 2,634 machine guarding violations.

The construction site is one of the most dangerous workplaces in the US. With the kind of violations the industry racks up every year, that isn't so much of a surprise.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey construction accident lawyer representing injured victims of crane and forklift accidents, trench collapses, scaffolding accidents and other construction accidents around the state of New Jersey. 

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A tragic construction accident at a site on interstate 287 North in Edison has left a construction worker with critical injuries. According to NJ.com, the worker Nehal Master was measuring the road, when a steamroller ran over his legs. The accident occurred at 3:30am,  Master sustained multiple fractures in both legs, and was rushed to the hospital New Brunswick. As of yesterday,  he was still in a critical condition.

A construction site may be home to heavy machinery including forklifts, cranes, trucks and steamrollers. Accidents involving construction equipment are entirely preventable. Any time workers are sharing a construction site with this equipment, there is a danger of collisions and being run over.

There are several ways that employers can prevent accidents involving construction equipment and workers.

• Pedestrian workers around the equipment must be trained properly, so they can prevent any collisions.
• The operators of the equipment must also be trained properly to avoid accidents with pedestrian workers.
• Very often, I notice that these accidents are caused because no one on the construction site bothered to let the worker know that construction equipment on the site was in movement. The worker was therefore unaware of approaching construction vehicles, resulting in serious collisions. Keeping channels of communication between equipment operators and pedestrian workers open, is also very important. Operators must be able to warn workers around of potential collisions.

Unfortunately, a collision between a worker and a truck, forklift, or steamroller rarely has a happy ending. These accidents often result in serious injuries that require long periods of hospitalization, and the need for physical rehabilitation and therapy.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey construction accident lawyer representing injured victims of crane and forklift accidents, trench collapses, scaffolding accidents and other construction accidents around the state of New Jersey.  

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