Missouri and Illinois Construction Workers Face Marked Safety Challenges

No occupational realm is risk-free. Even employment environments that seem to be completely safe work spheres can pose health and injury challenges for workers.

Still, most readers might readily agree that some job categories come with safety challenges that simply lack in other work fields.

A national article highlighting America’s most dangerous work sectors prominently notes that. It stresses that “missing a deadline or getting yelled at by your boss” makes for a bad day in some work venues. Conversely, “it means a serious injury or worse” at others.

That overview of job risks and resulting worker injuries spotlights data supplied by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics revealing what are reportedly the most dangerous jobs in the United States.

Many people are likely unsurprised to hear that maritime pursuits, farming, logging, iron/steel work and jobs in the transportation industry prominently dot the dangerous-jobs list.

So too does construction work, which poses routine and significant safety challenges for workers across Missouri, Illinois and the rest of the country.

Why is the construction realm a higher-risk work environment?

An informative legal overview of the construction industry and its safety challenges posed for workers underscores “the seriousness of construction injuries.” That reality owes to many and diverse factors, including these:

• Comparatively tough physical demands placed on many workers

• Tasks that are heavily labor-intensive and often require sustained focus

• Work venues featuring heavy, complex and moving equipment/machinery

• Exposure to harsh weather ranging from frigid temperatures to extreme heat

• Time schedules that are often tight and inflexible

Construction employees face notably varied job risks. High numbers of workers suffer injuries – too often catastrophic and even deadly – from falls and while being inadequately protected when working from heights. Respiratory safeguards against toxic fumes, gases and chemicals often lack. Training and employer oversight concerning hazard communication, control over powered industrial vehicles and machines is often substandard or even absent.

What can a worker do in the wake of a job-related injury?

“Following a construction accident,” duly notes the above-cited overview, “you need someone on your side.”

Candidly, that is not your employer, And it is certainly not an insurance company, which garners profit from denying or delaying claims, not from not paying out on them in workers’ compensation matters.

A worker injured in an on-the-job context has strong legal rights and an entitlement that assures sufficient financial assistance during a recovery period (and sometimes permanently in the case of a notably debilitating injury).

An empathetic workers’ compensation attorney with a proven history of advocacy on behalf of injured Missouri and Illinois employees can provide further information.