There’s always the risk of injury at any job, but some work sites come with inherent risks, like construction sites, warehouses, and manufacturing plants. Unfortunately, falls are one of the most common causes of serious workplace injuries, with an alarming 674,100 injuries from slips, trips, and falls in a single recent year. While employers can mitigate these risks by adhering to fall protection requirements, negligence still occurs, often requiring the insight of a St. Louis construction accident attorney to help victims navigate the aftermath.
Fall Protection Regulations on Job Sites
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates fall protection requirements under OSHA 1926.501 – Duty to have fall protection, which requires employers to provide training and install safety equipment where appropriate to prevent falls. OSHA fall protection criteria requires employers to do the following:
- Ensure that all working surfaces are structurally sound and strong enough to support workers
- Guard floor holes with floor-hole covers, guard rails, or toe boards
- Place toe boards and guard rails around open-sided elevated platforms
- Place guard rails and toe boards around areas where a worker may fall into equipment
- Employees who work or walk on elevated areas, including ramps, runways, and walkways of over 6 feet with unprotected edges, or work on constructing edges, must be equipped with guard rails, safety nets, or harnesses
- Fences, barricades, or guardrails must be placed near the edges of excavation sites, wells, shafts, and pits of more than 6 feet
- Roofers working on steep or low-slope roofs must have the protection of guardrails, personal fall arrest systems, safety nets, or warning line systems with monitoring when working at heights of 6 feet or more
The above regulations apply to construction workers, roofers, bricklayers, concrete workers, and other employees working from heights or around fall hazards, such as pits, shafts, wells, and holes.
What Types of Injuries Occur When Employers Fail to Meet Fall Protection Requirements on Job Sites?
When employers and worksite managers fail to comply with OSHA fall protection regulations or to enforce fall-prevention requirements, employees may suffer serious injuries from falls. Injuries often include the following:
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries, ranging from mild concussions to catastrophic brain injuries
- Fractures
- Soft-tissue injuries like sprains, torn ligaments, and tendon injuries to the knees, shoulders, ankles, and wrists
- Lacerations, contusions, and abrasions
- Facial and dental trauma
- Internal organ injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
Even a minor injury deserves compensation if the employee has medical expenses and loses time from work, but workplace injuries like falls from heights can cause severe, life-altering trauma with temporary or permanent consequences on all aspects of the injury victim’s life.
Options for Compensation In Workplace Fall Injury Claims
In most cases, workers’ compensation insurance protects employers from liability in Missouri workplace injury claims. A workers’ compensation attorney in St. Louis will investigate all aspects of the accident to determine the best pathway forward for recovering the maximum compensation available to an injured employee after a fall. In some cases, a third party, such as a contractor, subcontractor, or property owner, may be liable for damages in a workplace injury lawsuit.
While workers’ compensation only covers medical expenses, a percentage of lost wages, and disability benefits, a third-party claim allows compensation for non-economic damages like pain and suffering or catastrophic injuries, such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, or compensation for disability causing loss of enjoyment of life or diminished quality of life.