When you work for a city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) the spring and summer can be busy times for you. Spending your time working on the roads and sidewalks that we all pass along each and every day can present challenges as you need to get your job done, while we need to get TO our jobs.
With traffic along the routes that you’re working on, a DPW worker can find him/herself in a precarious situation with a good possibility of getting into an accident that may cause an injury and be worthy of filing a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim. With the commonplace of work being done on highly trafficked routes it can be so important that both workers and drivers take certain precautions to keep each other safe. Today, we’ll focus on the precaution that a DPW worker can take to protect themselves from an accident that could lead to serious injury.
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Always wear bright colored clothing. No matter where you are working or what you are doing you need to be visible. The best way to make yourself visible is to wear the appropriate clothing. Your clothes should be bright and also, especially if you’re working at night, contain reflective tape.
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If you can, avoid working immediately next to the traffic. While your job may require you to be very close to on-coming traffic, if you don’t have to be, try to avoid it at all costs. The closer you are to traffic the more likely an accident will occur.
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Take your time. Everyone makes mistakes when they are rushing through their work, but honestly, you can’t afford a mistake because it could be the difference between making it through your day safely and not. Even if you have to take longer than expected, it will be better in the end when you complete your job well and remain safe.
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Communicate with your team members. In most cases, DPW work is done in groups of people, if you’re not all on the same page you might run into some issues, but if you are communicating well you will avoid serious dangers and limit your chances of getting into an accident.
When you are working in close proximity to on-coming traffic it can be dangerous and may lead to an accident which can cause a serious injury. No matter how dangerous the situation is or not, you may still have a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim if you are injured in your role with the DPW.
Even if you have taken all of the precautions above you may still find yourself getting injured on the job. If that is the case you may need to speak with a board-certified attorney to review your case and help walk you through the claims process. Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will work with you to protect your long-term interests.
