Types of Accidents Often Seen in Construction

In construction, there are several ways workers can be injured. However, among the many dangers and hazards in the field, the majority of injuries and fatalities fall into one of the “Fatal Four,” as stated by OSHA. The “Fatal Four” are notorious because they involve a variety of factors that cause accidents in construction.

These type of accidents include:

Falls

Falls can be dangerous in construction, as they cause hundreds of deaths every year. These kinds of accidents can occur when a worker is not provided with the proper safety equipment such as harnesses or lifelines or are provided with defective or broken ladders or scaffolds. These accidents can also happen in stairwells if there are dangerous conditions such as debris present or there are no handrails present.

With great heights, anyone who falls is likely to experience severe injuries or even death. In construction-related fall accidents that result in death, the death might have occurred because there was little to no protection to prevent the fall.

Struck by Object Accidents

Workers being struck by falling objects are one of the most common and deadly types of accidents on construction sites. These accidents involve workers being hit by objects, which can cause tremendous injury due to the force and impact. It has been determined that many of these accidents result from a lack of training in the job, failure to provide adequate safety equipment, and improper use of equipment and machinery.

Caught in or Between Equipment

These types of accidents occur when construction workers are caught between two pieces of heavy equipment or between the equipment and an unmovable object, such as a wall. They can result in dangerous situations and severe injuries.

Some types of accidents in this regard include cave-ins, collapses, machinery rollovers, or getting caught in the moving parts of machinery. Body parts can become caught, crushed, compressed, or pinched.

Electrocutions

Workers can be severely injured and killed due to accidents involving electricity. Electrocution happens when a person, a piece of equipment, or a tool interacts with power lines or another electrical source and becomes electrified.

These accidents can cause severe injury. In many cases, the individual who got harmed was unaware of the danger. The energized power sources might have been conducting electricity from above ground or underground power lines, creating a hazard that was not apparent until the damage was done.

Other Types of Construction Accidents

Other common types of accidents in construction include:

• Scaffolding accidents
• Ladder accidents
• Falling object accidents
• Trip and fall accidents
• Slip and fall accidents
• Vehicle accidents
• Power tool and heavy machinery accidents