The Law You Need to Know to Protect Union Workers Health & Safety

By: Chris Placitella @ Sep 08, 2014

According to OSHA,  4,628 workers were killed on the job in a single year – on average, 89 a week or more than 12 deaths every day.Fatal work injuries  involving contractors accounted for 15 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2012.Out of 4,175  worker fatalities in private industry in calendar year 2012, 806 or  19.3% were in construction. The leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites were falls, followed by struck by object, electrocution, and caught- in/between. These “Fatal Four” were responsible for more than half (54.2%) the construction worker deaths in 2012

In almost every case involving serious injuries to union workers, a safety rule has been violated.

The following were the top 10 most frequently cited standards by Federal OSHA in fiscal year 2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013):

• Fall protection, construction (29 CFR 1926.501) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Respiratory protection, general industry (29 CFR 1910.134) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Powered industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR 1910.147) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Electrical systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]
• Machinery and Machine Guarding, general requirements (29 CFR 1910.212) [related OSHA Safety and Health Topics page]

If you have any questions about whether an injury on the job was caused by the violation of a safety rule, we are here to help.

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