US Building Boom Fuels Spike in Construction Worker Injury and Death
US Building Boom Fuels Spike in Construction Worker Injury and Death
Saturday, 30 January 2016 00:00
By Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout | News Analysis
They fall from ladders, roofs and scaffolding, get electrocuted, and breathe in toxic chemicals and dust. They get hit by falling objects and find themselves on the receiving end of mechanical failures and equipment malfunctions. For 7.45 million construction workers - one-fourth of them foreign born - going to work as a bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, framer, mason, painter, plumber, or drywall or tile installer means facing acute dangers within their daily work.
Indeed, despite efforts by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to oversee workplaces, train workers and ensure that adequate precautions are taken, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that fatal injuries on construction sites increased by 5 percent in 2014, to 874. In addition, hundreds of thousands of workers are injured on the job, filing an incredible 1 million workers' compensation claims a year for both temporary conditions - such as broken bones and sprains - and permanent injuries, including paralysis and loss of limbs.
The reason, say experts, is a residential building boom in cities across the country, among them Phoenix, Arizona; San Francisco and San Jose, California; Miami, Florida; New York City; Nashville, Tennessee; and Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas.
And although the law requires employers to provide safety training in workers' native languages; equip them with safety gear, including hard hats, gloves, harnesses and nets; and maintain equipment, from handheld tools to cranes and forklifts; this does not always happen.
More:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34572-us-building-boom-fuels-spike-in-construction-worker-injury-and-death
