If someone asked you what industry exceeds all others for the inherent head-related dangers it poses for workers, what would be your guess?
Although a few work realms might vie for that dubious distinction, various studies, hospital admissions and injury reports render it adamantly clear that the construction industry in New York and nationally stands alone for the heightened level of on-the-job brain-trauma risk that its workforce regularly faces.
Indeed, one seminal study has concluded that “construction workers are at a greater risk of suffering a brain injury from a workplace accident than those in any other profession.”
In fact, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health who culled relevant information over a multi-year period found that construction workers across the United States suffered “by far the highest rate of both fatal and nonfatal traumatic brain injuries.”
That is sobering news, to be sure, given the vast reach of the industry. Many millions of employees work on construction projects, with the scope of those endeavors being broad and diverse almost beyond belief.
It is that variety and complexity that breeds singular dangers for construction workers. Evidence shows, unsurprisingly, that work-related falls — from scaffolding, ladders and stairways, for example — are a truly outsized industry danger. So, too, are trench collapses, falling objects/debris, machine-related injuries and risks posed from many other sources.
For obvious reasons, the repercussions of a work-related TBI for a construction worker can be dire, indeed — even life changing for that individual and his or her family in the most elemental sense.
And damage can be compounded when a manager doesn’t reasonably note evidence of TBI in an employee, when unsafe work conditions render an injury even more material, or when, say, a doctor fails to detect and treat a brain injury that would have been readily apparent to other physicians.
The need for a meaningful money recovery in the wake of a TBI that owes to third-party negligence is often clear and compelling. Persons with questions or concerns regarding any aspect of a job-related brain injury can contact a proven personal injury attorney who routinely provides strong advocacy in TBI cases for information and guidance.
