Falls are the most common form of fatal accident for construction workers in this country, with almost half of all construction worker deaths attributed to falling injuries on the job. For more on the dangers facing workers in the construction industry, read:
- Construction Worker Deaths: Almost Half of All Construction Fatalities Caused by Falls
- Serious or Deadly Winter Construction Accidents in Illinois and Indiana
- Construction Worker’s Risk of Dying on the Job Jumps 41% According to New Report
- 2021 Top Ten List of OSHA Safety Violations: Known and Unresolved Accident Dangers Facing Workers Today
- The Increasing Danger of Dying on the Job: Fatality Risk Just Keeps Growing for Workers.
Duty Owed to Construction Workers in Indiana and Illinois
Both the state laws of Indiana and Illinois as well as federal law found in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations attempt to protect against the fall dangers facing construction workers by placing legal duties upon employers to provide fall protection safety equipment to employees who are asked to perform tasks from a height on the job site. See e.g., 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M.
Construction workers depend upon those powers-that-be that employ them and provide their paychecks to understand and comply with their legal responsibilities to keep workers safe from falls on the job. Sadly, all too often in Indiana and Illinois, employers fail in this duty and leave workers vulnerable to serious injury or death on a local construction site.
Alongside providing proper fall protection equipment comes the responsibility of training the construction workers on how the equipment is to be used. Safety procedures and protocols must also be developed by the employer regarding the fall safety systems used on the site. The employer’s duty of care to keep construction workers safe from falling accidents on the job is multi-faceted. Read, Deadly Construction Fall Accidents: Duty to Provide Fall Safety Equipment Protections for Construction Workers.
As the American Society of Safety Engineers explains:
All fall protection measures are implemented with a goal of reducing risk and, ultimately, saving a fallen worker from injury or death. With proper training and written procedures, the chances of equipment misuse or applying systems outside their limitations greatly decreases. Developing and maintaining proper procedures are a critical step in protecting all workers at heights.
Read, Phillips, Meg, and Ellen B. Stewart. “Using Fall Protection Procedures in the Real World.” ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition. American Society of Safety Engineers, 2011.
Fall Protection Equipment: Different Safety Systems
Fall protection equipment involves several types of safety systems. They include things like installing guardrail and safety net systems as well as providing personal fall protection systems including fall arrest systems. One of the most important types of fall safety measures on a construction site involves efforts to prevent falls from happening in the first place. Fall arrest is a type of safety measure intended to stop the construction worker from falling, thereby avoiding an incident and resulting injury.
What is a Fall Arrest System for Construction Workers?
Any construction worker in Indiana or Illinois that is required to work at an elevation of at least six feet (6’) above the lower level should be protected with a fall arrest system. Even a fall from a height that may be less than the height of some of the workers (i.e., six feet) may be enough to cause fatal bodily injury.
For more, read:
- Fatal Falls on the Job and the Employers Failure to Protect Worker From Fall Risk
- Fatal Rooftop Falls: Record-Breaking Number of Deadly Falls from Roof
- OSHA Targets Construction Workers Risk of Wrongful Death from Falls While Working on the Job.
A personal fall arrest system for a construction worker involves safety measures attached to the individual designed to keep that worker from falling while on any kind of working or walking surface on the job site. The fall arrest system will use a body harness that incorporates shock-absorption to protect the body as well as an anchor on the site and something that connects the harness to that anchor. This may be a lifeline, a lanyard, or other type of connecting mechanism. See, 29 CFR 1910.140(b).
Fall safety equipment in a fall arrest system can include things like:
- Belts – suspension
- Harnesses – full body
- Harnesses – chest
- Lanyards – elastic rope
- Lanyards – cable
- Lifelines
- Shock absorbers.
Each of these pieces of equipment must be properly designed, properly installed, and properly maintained. Frequent inspections are necessary to discover wear and tear or fatigue that warrants replacement of the equipment or any of its parts. A failure of any component part can have fatal consequences, such as the failure of a carabiner in a safety harness to hold.
Additionally, the employer has a duty to make sure that all fall arrest system equipment is current; not under recall; and meets with the appropriate industry standards for the particular construction project. Use of outdated or inappropriate equipment is a breach of the employer’s duty of care.
Justice for Construction Workers in Fatal Falls: Fall Arrest Systems
When a construction worker in Indiana or Illinois is a victim of a tragic fall accident on the work site, state law may provide avenues for justice to that worker as well as loved ones who suffer as a result. Federal law may also provide legal recompense in some circumstances.
This may involve workers’ compensation under the laws of Indiana and Illinois. Workers who suffer catastrophic harm in a construction site fall may receive workers’ compensation benefits that include weekly salary payment benefits, medical expenses, and more. Death benefits may be available for the construction worker that dies as a result of a fall on the job.
Wrongful death statutes may also provide avenues for justice in these matters when investigation into the accident reveals the legal liability of a third party. Defective products or component part design, for example, may establish claims against designers and manufacturers of the fall arrest system.
For more on workers’ compensation claims, read:
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
- The Jones Act vs. the Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act for Maritime Workers
- Workers Compensation in Indiana and Illinois: Work-Related Injuries and the Fight Against Corporate Greed
- Fewer Worker Deaths Nationally But Increase in Fatal Work Injuries in Indiana.
Construction workers willingly risk harm each day as they earn a living in one of the most notoriously dangerous industries in our nation. It is unacceptable to have employers failing in their duty to keep these employees safe from fall accidents, especially when decisions are made with profits deemed more important than people. Please be careful out there!
