The typical construction site contains heavy materials like beams and bricks, along with powerful machinery. On top of this, workers typically spend a lot of time several feet in the air or in deep ditches. Even with safety precautions, construction workers who live and work in Butler and the Pittsburgh area face the risk of serious injury virtually every day they go to work.
Most construction injuries are relatively mild. Cuts and muscle sprains usually heal without having to miss much time from the job if any. But when a more serious accident happens, the victim may be out of work for weeks, months or years. Or even worse, they might be killed.
Eight types of construction site injuries
Here are some examples of severe construction site injuries that happen regularly in Pennsylvania:
- Amputation of a finger, toe, hand, foot or an entire limb
- Broken bones
- Burns
- Electric shock
- Eye injuries leading to vision damage or blindness
- Spinal cord injuries
- Joint damage to a shoulder, knee or hip
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
These injuries can occur in a wide range of accidents, from falls from scaffolding to malfunctioning equipment, mistakes by a co-worker and dropped objects.
The costs of a work injury
One thing all serious construction injuries have in common is that they put the victim out of work, at least for a while. During this time, no income may be coming into the home, and the injured worker is likely facing expensive medical bills. Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation laws are designed to give people who were hurt or sickened in the course of their work duties the ability to get compensated during their recovery time.
Getting approved for workers’ comp can be a complicated process, but a workers’ compensation attorney can make the process faster and easier.
