While working on a construction site, some chances for potential injury may seem obvious at first glance. However, falling hammers or tools can also easily harm you just as much as scaffolding collapses or overexertion.
Learning about how falling objects can hurt you is one way to understand how accidents happen in a construction job.
Head injuries
According to the United States Department of Labor, construction equipment should always stay secure whenever workers are above a certain distance off the ground or working with certain materials. If they are not, then a worker who accidentally kicks a tool off a high ledge or leaves it close enough to fall over can cause a head injury.
Following these standard guidelines helps prevent someone from dropping a tool, like a hammer or a nail gun, onto a worker below him or her.
Spinal cord problems
An item falling on your back while you are bending down and working can catch you by surprise. It can also lead to more serious health issues later on, such as spinal cord trauma or trouble with walking. These elevated work stationsworkstations create many opportunities for an accidental injury.
Leg pain
A misplaced tool in the middle of a worker’s walking path can lead to a fall that harms your legs. If you are working from several feet above the ground or sustain massive injuries, then this can seriously hurt your mobility for the foreseeable future.
A lack of safety railings and other features can contribute to this, but the main problem is often an unsecured item that falls onto unsuspecting workers below.