Los Angeles Workers' Issues and Personal Injury Blog

Every California resident deserves a safe work environment and most employers strive to provide one. The problem is that despite every effort, keeping employees in some industries safe is a constant battle. For instance, preventing road construction workers accidents within the confines of the job site is often easier than protecting workers from motorists on the roadways on which they work.

Controlling the flow of traffic on the roadways requires careful planning. Many workers are dangerously vulnerable to being struck by vehicles in these zones. Government agencies are responsible for controlling traffic for pedestrians and motorists while employers work to keep things under control inside the work zone.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health mandates that employers inform employees of all the known safety hazards they might encounter. They must provide safety training to teach workers how to mitigate those hazards and also provide the necessary personal protective equipment. Certain hazards, such as dangerous chemicals, have specific rules and regulations that cover safe storage, labeling and written datasheets.

Chemicals are present in all industries, and the hazardous chemicals in your workplace could be those used for cleaning, or they could form part of a manufacturing process. However, regardless of the types of chemicals you encounter, they will threaten your health.

When a person suffers an injury on the job, he or she has the right to pursue benefits through a workers' compensation claim. Even knowing that benefits are available in case of a workplace accident, a worker may still have concerns about his or her health and safety while on the job. Since 2014, fatal workplace injuries are up by 22%, which means that California employees have a good reason to be concerned. 

It is always tragic when a person dies on the job, regardless of why it happened. When these events occur, employers should strive to investigate the cause of the accident and implement steps to ensure that it does not happen again. There is no clear reason why the rate of work-related fatalities continues to rise in the state, although it is lower than the national average.

The risks of falls are par for the course in the construction industry nationwide, including in California. Workers might find comfort in knowing that their employers provide fall arrest systems to those who work at heights. However, they may not know that the danger continues after the PPE arrested the fall. Suspension trauma can claim the lives of workers who are suspended and waiting to be rescued.

When a worker is suspended motionless in an upright position in a fall harness, blood accumulates in the legs because the flow is restricted. Stress and environmental pressure can exacerbate the workers' condition and accelerate the onset of suspension trauma. Most newer brands of fall arrest systems are designed with a feature that provides the fall victim with an extra built-in strap that could allow him or her to settle into a sitting position to avoid restricting blood flow to the heart.