Construction accidents occur every day, and it is the task of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to research these accidents.
OSHA puts forth regulations that ensure the safety of construction workers and investigates claims. Currently, OSHA employs 2,200 inspectors investigating the causes of dangerous construction accidents.
The personal injury lawyers at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC can assist you in the process of contacting OSHA to receive an investigation of your workplace.
With the help of our attorneys, OSHA can issue a citation that can be used in your case. OSHA citations usually serve as powerful evidence that a construction site employer was negligent in maintaining a site.
Get in touch with our construction injury lawyers by calling (888) 424-5757 to receive assistance in your workers’ compensation lawsuit.
OHSA’s and the State Health Administration Role in Preventing Occupational Safety Failures
There are 90 local OSHA offices and ten regional offices. OSHA maintains a budget that can be drawn upon by workers who have been injured in construction accidents. In 2019, the total budget of OSHA is $563,658,000. In 2015, OSHA found that over 4,000 workers died at dangerous construction sites.
The statistics reveal that this accounts for almost 13 deaths occurring every day. If you were injured in a construction site accident, then it may be likely that there was an OSHA violation at your construction site. OSHA can investigate the scene of your workplace accident and may deem it necessary to issue a citation.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
The Health Act of 1970 was established to protect workers from workplace hazards and allow them to take part in the development of their own safety standards.
The Act, also known as OSHA, sets requirements for companies to provide a safe work environment for employees, including regularly monitored and maintained machines for proper functioning.
OSHA is responsible for ensuring that workers know all possible risks associated with machinery use, the need for inspections, and providing training programs for employees working with machinery to avoid injuries. Compliance with OSHA regulations is essential to ensure everyone has a safe working an environment free from preventable injuries.
Common OSHA Willful Violation That Equates to Serious Injuries to Workers and Their Workplace Safety
There are common OSHA violations that happen every year. It can be easy for construction companies to fail to minimize the risk of injury due to forgetfulness, laziness or budget concerns.
OSHA found that the following “fatal four” causes of worker deaths could have been prevented:
- Falls: Construction employers must provide safeguards in areas where workers are at risk of falling more than six feet.
- Struck by an object: Workers on a construction site must wear certain protective gear to protect themselves from falling objects. Employers may have a duty to provide this protective equipment to workers.
- Caught-in equipment: Protective systems must be in place to protect workers from getting caught in safety equipment.
- Electrocution: Workers must be protected if electrical circuits are on a worksite.
Normally companies are supposed to issue gear and other items to prevent these accidents, such as fall protection training, hazard communication, safety equipment, respiratory protection, personal protective equipment, and more.
In fact, OSHA regulations call for these guidelines, and different types of OSHA violations can accrue for breaking federal regulations. Repeatedly violating OSHA regulation guidelines can result in aggravated fines, especially if there are employee complaints, injured workers, and more.
Gathering Evidence for Your Work Injury Claim: Issuing an OSHA Citation
When you have been injured on a construction site, it is important to ensure that a proper site investigation is conducted. Our lawyers will investigate a site to see whether the site has any violations. There can be many sanctions for employers that fail to abide by the strict regulations of OSHA.
If a construction site has violations, an employer may be ordered to pay fines to OSHA. Employers may also have to end a project if there are many worksite violations.
Because of the strict sanctions that OSHA puts in place, workplaces have been improved significantly. Workplace fatalities have been dramatically reduced due to measures used by OSHA to protect workers.
Regulations to help workers and specific OSHA standard safety fines and health standards are related to the following:
- Respiratory protection
- Hazard communication tools
- Fall protection training
- Protection gear
- Fall protection machine guarding
- Safety rails
- Hazardous energy containment
- Powered industrial trucks
- Face protection
Most of the top violations relate to these OSHA requirements, including even a de minimis violation. The administration issues safety violations for them routinely.
If a subsequent OSHA inspection reveals something other than serious violations, there should be no violation failure or safety violations. If there is a larger safety issue to employee health or the general industry, especially preventable injuries, they can receive the maximum penalty.
Also, OSHA will render a reduced violation citation to abate prior violations from the abatement date. This is rare; you should expect maximum penalty and maximum fine across the general industry for violations.
The most frequently cited standards can be found in safety data sheets from the federal agency.
Possible Compensation for OSHA Violations
If you have suffered harm from OSHA violations, including a willful violation (willful violations) or serious violations, you could be entitled to maximum compensation.
Most of the time, workers are eligible for financial compensation related to violations that cause them injury and expenses. The most common reasons for recovery in injury cases involve:
- Health expenses
- Lost wages
- Past and future medical bills
- Disability
- Workers’ compensation benefits
- Disfigurement or scarring
- Lost life normalcy
- Pain and suffering
Our Chicago OSHA violations legal team helps victims get the financial recovery they deserve. If a serious violation (OSHA violation) or serious violations of OSHA standards results in injury or even worker deaths, our team can help obtain maximum compensation.
Our law firm knows OSHA rules and what a serious or technical violation (even prior violation) of OSHA standards means. Our attorneys have particular experience with fall protection, worker safety, hazardous energy transport, powered industrial truck crashes, workplace accidents, machine guarding, wiring methods, and more.
Different types of OSHA rules and violations impact your recovery (including de minimis violations). Repeated violations or serious OSHA citations can multiply damages for workers.
How a Lawyer Can Help Your Case
Employees injured on the job due to a violation may have legal recourse. Normally, it comes either through workers’ comp or legal processes.
In either case, employees may need someone to investigate the violation, see how it caused their injuries, bring a claim, and fight for them against the other party.
For an OSHA violation other than serious fines, most companies won’t care and won’t contest the violations. If they are serious violations, though, as the ones that cause employees harm, they may fight them. That’s when you need an expert legal team.
What You Should Do After a Workplace Accident
If a worker or other employee is hurt on the job, there are certain things they should do to preserve their health, protect their rights, and help their families.
Normally, our attorneys suggest seeing a doctor right after any workplace accident. It will ensure you get the medical attention you need and record your harm for a future case.
When your immediate health is secured, you should write down how the accident happened. Make a list of everything you remember. This information will help when you eventually seek justice.
We also suggest you secure legal representation near in time of the events. A competent Chicago OSHA violations lawyer can review the violation, fines, specific NAICS codes, and failure to abate issues.
We can build your case while you get better. Finally, don’t talk to the other side. Your OSHA lawyer from our law firm can handle communications.
Timeline to Bring a Claim
Most states only give you a certain amount of time to bring an action for a workplace violation that results in harm. These case posting requirements, called statutes of limitations, normally differ depending upon the violation, including if there is a failure to abate the problem.
Talk with your OSHA lawyer about the specific time window to bring a claim or case. It may change with the nature of the accident and the industry profile.
Most claims can be wrapped up within a few months to a year. Get the process started now so that you can begin again on the road to recovery.
If You Are Injured at Work, Call Our Construction Injury Lawyers for Help
Construction employers must protect their employees and provide a safe working environment. When employers fail to uphold this duty, it is important for construction injury lawyers to hold them accountable.
Construction injury lawyers can investigate the negligence that led to your job-related injury. Call Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC at (888) 424-5757 to schedule a free consultation or use an online submission form to receive a free review of your case.
A construction injury lawyer can help you recover damages through a work injury lawsuit.
Contact our OSHA attorneys to understand the extent to which you may qualify for damages for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium.
