Lots of employment realms in Minnesota and spanning the country require vigilance from workers routinely going about their jobs. No workplace in any industry is completely safe and immune from on-the-job mishaps and resulting injuries.
Having said that, though, some employment spheres are particularly notable for the risks they pose for workers. Concededly, an accident in a typical office environment can occasionally send somebody to the hospital. Yet it is clearly the case that sitting behind a desk is far safer generally than is rigorous employment in realms like forestry and the maritime industry.
And construction.
Especially construction, which is an industry that annually ranks at or near the top of any work sphere being evaluated for risks posed to workers.
Just how outsized are job risks in the construction industry?
The following statistic is not meant to be alarmist, and it should be noted that legions of construction workers have injury-free careers spanning decades.
Many don’t, though. In fact, the advocacy group Center for Construction Research and Training reports that any given construction worker has a 75% chance of being afflicted with a serious injury over his or her career.
That is a compelling number, isn’t it? And it certainly supports the statement in one recent article spotlighting elevated construction industry risks and linked worker injuries that “construction is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States.”
It doesn’t automatically have to be. An in-depth legal source underscores that many work-related injuries are flatly preventable. The bottom line is that high numbers of serious accident/injury outcomes are avoidable simply when on-the-job negligence is averted.
What remedies can an injured construction worker pursue?
A construction worker injured as a result of negligence (either authored by an employer or a third party) or other catalyst is far from powerless. Relevant laws provide for legal redress in the form of these monetary remedies:
- Workers’ compensation benefits received from an employer’s insurance company; and
- Compensation recovered via a personal injury lawsuit in a case where negligence was committed by a third party
It will not surprise many readers to hear that insurers do not routinely act with dispatch and in good faith to provide needed benefits to an injured party. The above-cited legal source underscores that an insurance company “will often attempt to restrict, minimize or deny benefits to you even if you have been an excellent employee for decades.”
No injured worker needs to accept such an outcome passively. A proven pro-claimant workers’ compensation legal team can work diligently to secure the maximum compensation an injured employee is entitled to following a workplace injury.
