ACCIDENTS AT WORK: THE HARD-HAT ZONE. WHITE-COLLAR WOES
The Hard-Hat Zone
When Joseph B. Strauss designed and engineered America’s second-largest bridge across the Golden Gate Strait, he was determined that this San Francisco project would be the safest in bridge-construction history. Local safety equipment manufacturer Edward W. Bullard developed the first “hard hat,” workers were fed a special diet to prevent dizziness, and a safety net was suspended below the floor of the bridge from end to end. That net saved a total of 19 men, proving that safety measures worked. Then in 1937, a few months before the bridge was to open, a section of scaffold carrying 12 men fell and ripped through the safety net, killing 10 of them-proving also that construction was, is, and likely always will be inherently dangerous.
Today, falls remain a leading cause of death and disability at construction sites. In one year alone, it’s common to have more than 40,000 disabling falls. When those falls happen from roofs, scaffolding, or other temporary platforms, workers often don’t get back up. Making matters on the construction site even worse are vehicular accidents and electrocutions, which account for almost as many fatalities as falls.
With more than 309 deaths in 1995-or a rate of 39-5 for every 100,000 workers-being a construction laborer ranks as the sixth deadliest occupation in the United States. No doubt, we’re always going to need bridges and buildings, but we need to keep our construction workers safe. Here’s what experts recommend.
Strap on protection. There is no shortage of products on the market to help prevent a construction worker’s fall. “Some fasten the workers to a stable part of the construction site. Some work like a seat belt and ‘catch’ the worker should he suddenly slip.” But according to some safety professionals, many of the daredevils in these fields don’t want to wear them. For example, roofers have actually fought to be exempt from fall-protection regulations because they maintain that the equipment contributes to falls rather than preventing them.
Work along the curve.
“Being new on a job increases your chances for getting hurt”. “The newness of the work, the lighting, and the conditions all put you at risk when you start a job, no matter what your age. It’s best to be aware of that and respect your learning curve.”
White-Collar Woes
If you’re among the legion of button-down desk jockeys or other non-laborers in the workforce, you don’t have to worry much about death by toppling trees or by falling hundreds of feet from scaffolding. Your coworkers are another story. One in three workplaces has been the site of a violent episode. Every day two or three workers are fatally shot at work.
Assaults and violent acts comprise 20 percent of fatal occupational injuries. When they happen at work, your employer takes a certain amount of responsibility for them and they are logged as occupational “intentional deaths” – the safety industry’s word for not being an accident. Right now, getting shot is the biggest risk for some white-collar workers.
Though this occupational risk seems more out of the victim’s control than, say, strapping on a safety belt, that doesn’t mean that you’re helpless from preventing these events from occurring. For example, I can remember back in the 1970s, anybody could just walk into the federal building where I worked. But circumstances have changed. Now we have employee identification and access cards to restrict entrance of potential perpetrators of violent acts in the workplace.
If your workplace seems vulnerable to outside invasion, safety experts suggest that your employer install a security system, especially if your job involves handling money. Employers often take these suggestions seriously.
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