Workers’ compensation is such a vital factor for many injured workers all around the country. Construction workers are especially familiar with workers’ comp, as they work in a dangerous industry that routinely experiences serious accidents that leave people and their families dealing with catastrophic injuries. Sadly, some of these accidents can leave people with fatal injuries.
In the wake of such an accident, whether the victim is injured or no longer with us, the individual and his or her loved ones deserve some support, if not compensation in the form of a civil lawsuit. This is where workers’ compensation comes in. It gives families some financial aid during a time when one of their own is unable to work.
We bring all of this up in the wake of some disturbing new information about the fatal accident rate in the construction industry here in the United States. In 2012, 9.9 people died per 100,000 workers in the construction industry as a result of work accidents. Just a year before, the rate was only 9.1 deaths per 100,000 workers. That’s a dramatic jump in just one year.
The reason isn’t entirely clear for the big leap in work fatalities in the construction industry, but some believe a boom in the energy industry is also leading to a boom in the construction worker fatality rate. With the energy industry thriving, more people are moving to remote or rural areas. In turn, these areas need new facilities and they need to be built up. That’s where the increased construction work — and skyrocketing fatality rate — comes from.
Source: Business Insurance, “Construction growth brings increase in number of worker fatalities,” Stephanie Goldberg, July 6, 2014