A recent incident that involved the death of a contractor who was doing work in New York City provided a glimpse into the fact that contractors who are working on road construction projects are at a great risk of being injured while at work. This may not come as a huge surprise, but road work zones are dangerous places to be on the job and if safety isn’t taken seriously more incidents like the one linked to above may continue to occur.
A contractor who is working on the road is more likely to experience a workplace injury and need to file a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim. Once injured the first step is to make sure you report your injury to your supervisor and then be seen by a medical provider to make sure your injury is well documented.
The question remains, why are road workers, in many instances, more susceptible to getting injured on the job than, say, other construction workers who are doing jobs that are similar in nature? There are a few simple reasons for this and they can be informative for keeping these types of workers safe.
First, a road worker is engaged in complex work that can often require the work of engineers and surveyors to ensure that the job is safe and well constructed as it is work that is being done to provide safe passage for motorists. The complexity of the work leaves it open to a variety of issues that may arise that could result in a workplace injury. When you’re working on a job site that has many moving parts and where no one job site is equivalent to the other it can be a challenge to keep yourself safe with a set of safety procedures that apply to all jobs.
Second, the nature of the job is that you are working alongside high speed traffic which leaves a lot of variables to be accounted for in the course of your day. There are many things that are out of your control as a contractor working on road construction such as the speed at which drivers pass, whether or not drivers that pass are distracted by other things in their vehicle and the fact that many drivers will be driving the area in an unfamiliar way due to a shift in the traffic pattern and this can leave them at a disadvantage for driving safely.
Third, weather conditions can have an outsized impact on your safety when you are working on a project along a busy road. When weather conditions are unpredictable they can cause your job site to be unpredictable and adding that to the variable of a variety of motorists passing by and you could have a very dangerous situation. No matter what the weather conditions are you could be faced with a situation that becomes more and more dire as the weather patterns change. While there isn’t much you can do about this variable you can make sure that you are prepared with the proper clothing and are staying alert in the event that the weather changes quickly while on a job site.
Working on a road project can be a bit of a thankless job. Many who are passing by will become frustrated that your work is causing them to sit in traffic and they may become more easily distracted by their cell phones or other devices as they are passing by. To keep yourself free from injury and to avoid having to file a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim you will want to follow all safety precautions set out by your employer and make sure as conditions change you reassess the situation regularly.
In the event that you do get injured you may need to speak with an attorney who can review your case. Contact our office and one of our board certified workers’ compensation attorneys will speak with you about the particulars of your situation. They may then work with you to protect your long-term interests.
