Understanding Common Construction Accidents & Injuries: Prevention & Safety Insights

Working conditions on construction sites are continually changing, and workers must be ready for anything. While safety laws and codes heavily regulate the construction industry, worksite accidents can still occur. In fact, one in every 10 construction workers is injured on the job every year. 

For those who doubt the importance of maintaining safe work conditions at all times, MCR Safety guarantees this article will reshape your perspective some. And, by the end, they hope it solidifies a firm understanding of why personal protective equipment (PPE) is to be worn 100% of the time on a construction site.

In this article, MCR will highlight where you can find specific reports about construction-related accidents that have been filed by OSHA. They also outline other tools you can use to see accident reports to better understand a construction site's potential hazards. Their goal is to give you a more in-depth look at what types of accidents and injuries can occur in this line of work and the consequences construction companies face if specific regulations aren't followed. 

OSHA and Accident Reports

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports summaries of construction-related accidents that are open and viewable online. A simple search can give you an overview of the various types of accidents on a construction site. OSHA also provides common statistics that show the prevalence of accidents and how often OSHA is called to investigate them. Their statistics also help other agencies compile reports of accident trends to bring awareness and encourage prevention. 

Why would someone care about such information? Well, if you're a safety manager responsible for construction workers' well-being, you want to know where there may be issues and hazards on your construction projects so you can work to protect against them. All the data OSHA provides helps safety professionals know where their attention should be placed to decrease injury opportunities. 

Fatal Calamities 

The construction world has what they refer to as the "fatal four" categories of construction accidents. As MCR Safety highlights in their article on Construction Safety, these four types of accidents accounted for 64% of fatalities related to construction accidents in 2015:

1. Falls – 364 deaths
    
2. Struck by object – 90 deaths
    
3. Electrocutions – 81 deaths
    
4. Caught in or between – 67 deaths

These stats are alarming and should cause anyone to pause and consider the safety precautions they follow or their jobsite has put in place. Not all accidents result in death, however. On their website, OSHA reports over 5,600 construction accidents each year. This high number of accidents reveals that there are many ways workers are injured on a job site.

Many different types of accidents can occur on a construction site and, while not all are fatal, all are life-changing. MCR's intent isn't to scare you or upsell you a product. Their goal is to stress how dangerous construction work is and to remind workers to always be on guard from the daily hazards they encounter. 

It's also intended to remind readers that searching through OSHA's reports can help construction workers and safety managers learn from others' mistakes and avoid some of the situations that proved dangerous or even fatal.

Previously Featured on MCR Safety's blog.