Construction Industry Workers and Injury Claims

Over the last twenty-five years nearly 3000 people have died, while working in the construction industry. This shocking statistic reveals the danger inherent in a profession that often involves working at height and also with powerful and potentially lethal tools. The inherent danger of the profession though, shouldn''t obscure the fact that many of these deaths could have been avoided with better on-site training and health and safety procedures. For the last couple of years, this point has been stressed over and over again by the Health and Safety Executive, who monitor the industry.

The HSE has run numerous campaigns warning companies of the potential danger that workers can find themselves on site and there have been signs of improvement. These signs though, are not good enough for the many hundreds of people injured each year in the sector but they can claim compensation using a no win no fee lawyer if the accident was not their fault.

Working at height

One of the most common causes of injuries in the construction industry is from working at height. Falls from improperly secured scaffolding, poor safety procedures and a lack of oversight has led to to numerous < href="http://www.accidentsdirect.com/work-accidents.aspx">work accidents over the last few years, with many serious injuries.

In the last week the HSE has offered another warning for firms who use scaffolding after the result of an inquest into a scaffolding collapse from 2005. MW Scaffolding Ltd had set up a three story scaffold at a site in Aberystwyth but had failed to check the strength and stability of the structure.

Thankfully the collapse didn''t result in any injuries but the HSE noted that workers had been on the scaffold as little as a couple of minutes previously.

"Scaffolding is an essential tool for construction companies to facilitate safe working at height, but it is vital that all precautions to prevent collapse are taken. In the case of system scaffold like that used in this case, they should be erected in accordance with the manufacturer''s instructions to a site specific design. They should also be inspected for safety regularly, and this clearly wasn''t done in this case," said HSE inspector Wayne Williams.

There was further worrying news from Leeds, where HSE inspectors found conditions for working at height to still be below standard. This us especially problematic because there were 5 deaths in the Yorkshire-Humber area in 2007-2008 alone. There were signs of improvement though, with many facets of the HSE visits being satisfactory.

"Whilst the number of notices issued underlines the continuation of some poor working practices and the persistence of a worrying disregard for safety in this industry, nevertheless the response to HSE''s visits was generally very positive," added inspector David Powell.

Injury compensation

With incidents like these happening every day within the industry it is vital that workers take full advantage of no win no fee compensation if they are injured on the job. A lawyer can help you see whether your injuries were the responsibility of the company and whether you can go forward with a claim.

Have you suffered a fall whilst at work? Make a free no win no fee compensation claim for personal injury.