11 Apr Workplace Injuries, Fatalities, and Common Citations by OSHA
Workplace injuries can cause a major disability that is ultimately detrimental to the employee’s work and personal life. In the event that the company fails to address this concern, the worker may sue the company for the damages and medical expenses. This can be very costly to a company. In addition, many injured workers will face difficulties obtaining approval for reasonable medical treatment.
Organization such as OSHA have state partners and approximately 2,000 inspectors responsible for the health and safety of 130 million workers employed at more than 8 million worksites around the nation — which translates to about one compliance officer for every 59,000 workers.
Workplace Injuries, Illness and Fatalities
- 4,679 workers were killed on the job in 2014 – on average, almost 90 a week or more than 13 deaths every day
- 789 Hispanic or Latino workers were killed from work-related injuries in 2014 – on average, more than 15 deaths a week or two Latino workers killed every single day of the year, all year long
- Fatal work injuries involving contractors accounted for 17 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2014
Construction’s “Fatal Four”
Out of 4,251* worker fatalities in private industry in calendar year 2014, 874 or 20.5% were in construction―that is, one in five worker deaths last year were in construction. The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, followed by electrocution, struck by object, and caught-in/between.
These “Fatal Four” were responsible for more than half (58.1%) the construction worker deaths in 2014*, BLS reports. Eliminating the Fatal Four would save 508 workers’ lives in America every year.
- Falls — 349 out of 874 total deaths in construction in CY 2014 (39.9%)
- Electrocutions — 74 (8.5%)
- Struck by Object — 73 (8.4%)
- Caught-in/between — 12 (1.4%)
Top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards violated in 2015
The following were the top 10 most frequently cited standards by Federal OSHA in fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015):
- Fall protection
- Scaffolding
- Hazard communication
- Respiratory protection
- Lockout/tagout
- Powered industrial trucks
- Ladders
- Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment
- Machinery and Machine Guarding
- Electrical systems design
Workers Compensation Representation
West New York, New Jersey
The Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Bloom works to protect the injured workers’ right to proper medical treatment. Whether it be an MRI for diagnostic purposes or surgery to repair a damaged cervical or lumbar disc, you should call our office to determine your rights under New Jersey law.
If an injury is permanent, injured workers are entitled to permanent partial disability benefits. Under New Jersey law, this benefit is determined by one’s loss of earning capacity.  Call our office today – free consultations for all accident cases – (855) 208-3650.
