Arizona Construction Accident Lawyer Blog

Arizona construction sites are required to comply with federal and state safety standards. These standards are there for a reason – to ensure the safety and well-being of workers. It is the employer's duty to make sure that the work site is safe and free of any hazards. If death or serious physical harm results from a hazard that an employer should have known existed at the site, the employer can be slapped with a violation and fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a federal agency that monitors and investigates all work-related accidents and injuries.

Recently, OSHA cited a bridge and tower painting company after a worker fell to his death while painting a bridge site. OSHA investigators found that the fatal construction site accident occurred because of a lack of fall protection, training deficiencies, machine guarding issues and scaffolding hazards. In such cases, companies have 15 business days from the receipt of the latest citations and proposed penalties to comply and participate in an informal conference with OSHA officials to contest or appeal the findings.

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Scaffolding collapses can cause devastating injuries in Phoenix construction sites. Four construction companies are facing citations and hefty monetary penalties in connection with the deaths of three construction workers. Sadly, the deceased employees fell 100 feet to their deaths when the scaffolding they were working on failed and broke apart. According to a KVUE news report, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued citations and proposed penalties against the four construction companies that are working on the site.

The deaths were tragic indeed. But even more heart-wrenching is the fact that these three men could have been alive if only the scaffolding parts had been inspected and replaced or repaired as needed. One of the companies has been slapped with eight serious violations including one for failing to provide scaffolding capable of supporting four times the maximum load. Another company was cited for failing to provide a competent person to inspect a scaffold prior to use. Two other companies were cited for failing to provide adequate fall protection systems on scaffolds. The companies face nearly $160,000 in fines from OSHA.

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Trench collapse accidents are among the most common types of construction site accidents that occur in Arizona and elsewhere in the nation. These accidents can result in devastating personal injuries or death to workers. However, the unfortunate fact is that these trench collapse accidents can be easily prevented by following the safety standards spelled out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which monitors and investigates workplace accidents and injuries in the United States including construction site accidents.

According to a recent news report, a worker sustained a fractured leg and a broken pelvis when a dirt trench wall fell on him when he was helping to put down concrete sewer pipes. The worker was trapped in the trench because of his injuries. He was safely removed from the trench and treated for serious injuries. OSHA officials are investigating this incident. Officials issued a citation to the contracting firm for a safety violation that resulted in the accident, specifically, the absence of shoring in the area of the trench where the dirt wall fell.

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Forklifts can cause serious accidents and devastating injuries in construction accident sites. Forklifts are industrial vehicles featuring a projected fork, which is inserted under the load to lift and move it from one place to another. Forklifts are quite commonly used in factories, industrial areas and Arizona construction sites where large loads need to be moved regularly. A number of forklift accidents are preventable and can be avoided by providing proper training to operators.
A recent news article reported that a construction worker sustained serious injuries in a hotel construction site after he was struck by a concrete slab being moved by a forklift, which suddenly shifted and flipped up. The concrete slab apparently hit the worker in the face and he was knocked unconscious. Workers at the site feared he may have suffered spinal or head injuries. The man was seriously injured, but is expected to recover.

According to the data compiled by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a government agency in the Department of Labor, forklift accidents claim 85 lives every year in the United States, while leaving 34,900 individuals with serious injuries and 61,800 individuals with minor injuries.

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Falls are a common cause of Arizona construction accidents. These construction site accidents could occur because of slips, loose embankments or trenches, or as a result of loose scaffolds. Whatever the cause, a fall from a higher elevation can cause devastating, even catastrophic, injuries to a construction worker including traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, broken bones and other types of back or neck injuries. Such serious personal injuries could prevent the worker from returning to his job for an extended period of time, thus causing tremendous financial strain. The sad truth is that most of these construction site accidents are entirely preventable.

A recent News 8 article reports a construction accident where a worker fell from the 31st floor of a hotel down to the 30th floor. The worker apparently fell more than 10 feet onto hard concrete. Rescue workers had to wrap the injured employee onto a backboard and carry him down three floors on a ladder because there was no elevator that went up to the construction site. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.

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Construction equipment can cause serious injuries or even death in Arizona construction sites. Numerous construction accidents in Phoenix and elsewhere in the country are caused as a result of malfunctioning equipment, negligence on the part of someone other than the victim who is operating the equipment, or lack of proper training on the part of the worker who is operating the equipment. Whatever the cause, the possibility of a fatal injury or a debilitating injury, which causes a lifelong disability, is very much present when a worker is injured by heavy construction equipment.

A recent news report in The Star-Ledger details a construction site accident where a worker's leg was crushed by a steamroller on a highway. Workers were reportedly paving lanes in that area of the highway when the worker's leg was crushed by the heavy equipment. The construction worker was transported to an area hospital where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

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A worker sustained critical injuries in an Arizona construction site accident after he fell off scaffolding at a Fountain Hills construction area. According to a news report in The Arizona Republic, the worker fell 10 feet while working on a home, which was under construction. The man's injuries were said to be critical and he was airlifted to an area hospital's trauma center. No one else was injured, the news report said.

Construction accidents involving scaffolding are extremely common. The injuries from these accidents can be devastating because they usually involve workers falling from great height. Often, these easily avoidable and preventable injuries result in heartbreaking tragedy for the worker's family. Millions of construction workers operate on scaffolding every day. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set standards and criteria specifically to protect construction workers from dangers involving scaffolds such as falls, falling objects, structural deficiency or instability, electrocution or overloading.

In any construction site accident, especially those involving scaffolds, it is very important to determine who or what caused the accident. Was the scaffolding loose or unstable? Was the worker using harnesses? Were all safety procedures being followed at the time? Did someone else's negligence cause or contribute to the fall and resulting injuries?

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