Construction sites have a number of risks to workers as well as visitors. Accidents from falling debris, faulty equipment, contact with heavy machinery and falls from steep heights all pose risks which must be minimized by construction site managers and operators. The construction industry is regulated by both state and federal agencies and there are penalties that can be imposed when safety regulations are ignored or sidestepped.
The role of OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the main agency responsible for formulating and overseeing safety conditions in workplaces. It is a federal body which sets safety standards on construction sites as it does other workplaces. If an accident occurs, OSHA may be involved in investigating the circumstances of the accident to establish whether safety regulations at the construction site were adequate enough and met OSHA standards. Violations of OSHA regulations may be used as evidence by affected workers and others who may have been injured as a result of avoidable safety hazards.
Massachusetts Building Regulations and Standards
Massachusetts does not have a specific plan that covers all workers in the state. Private sector workers are covered by OSHA as are employees of the federal government. Therefore, the Massachusetts State Plan, under the supervision of the state’s Department of Labor Standards (DLS) is responsible primarily for safety standards at sites owned by state government entities. To recap, if an accident occurs at a private or federal government owned construction site or where private contractor employees or federal employees are injured, OSHA is the primary body involved in potential investigation of safety standards. Public employees employed by the state government who are injured on state government owned sites are covered primarily by the DLS.
How OSHA site inspections can influence compensation paid to accident victims
Massachusetts, like all other states, makes it compulsory for employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If an employee is injured or becomes ill while at work, they may seek workers’ compensation whatever the fault. Workers’ compensation payments are, therefore, paid out even if the employee was at fault (with some exceptions) or the employer was exemplary in ensuring that the workplace was a safe place to work in. Whether OSHA is involved in inspecting a construction site depends on an allegation that the safety conditions were not compliant with OSHA regulations and were at least partly responsible for a construction worker’s injuries as a result of a workplace accident.
If OSHA does carry out an inspection and the result is that the site’s safety standards did not meet OSHA standards, this could be used as evidence in any personal injury case brought by an injured worker for extra compensation.
Workers’ compensation payments are typically limited to a percentage of what the worker would have normally obtained if still employed and excludes additional compensation as is typical in personal injury cases such as pain and suffering and punitive payments. Evidence of employer liability due to less than acceptable standards may convert a workers’ compensation claim to a personal injury claim with potentially higher compensation payments obtained.
Classification system used by OSHA following a construction site accident
OSHA uses a three point classification system as guidance to a response to a construction site accident.
Category 1 accidents or reports of serious safety conditions mean that there will be an OSHA inspection. Workplace fatalities, if more than 2 workers need to be hospitalized, multiple injuries or ia minor has been injured are all situations that might necessitate prioritization by OSHA for an inspection.
Category 2 is for all less serious situations but which may mean that there are less than satisfactory safety standards. An OSHA inspection may be encouraged but not be compulsory if there are hazards reported at the site, whistleblower claims, sites that have had a history of prior inspection, referrals by government entities and where there have been injuries caused by heat stress or chemical exposure.
Category 3 is where an inspection is not warranted and covers all situations and conditions not described above.
Reporting unsafe workplace conditions to OSHA
Even if an accident has not occurred at a construction site, workers may report a safety hazard in writing to OSHA that they believe should be inspected. OSHA must then make a determination whether the hazard reported should be investigated. For example if OSHA inspectors believe that the hazard was known to the site management and that attention was given to remedy the hazard then an inspection may not take place. Much depends on prior experience of accidents and safety reports from that particular site or have taken place on other sites owned or operated by the same company. OSHA’s prioritization system may mean that sites where an accident hazard seems to have been ignored may take some time before they are inspected.
When an inspection results in identifying negligence by the employer, i.e. safety provisions have not met OSHA regulatory standards and have contributed to an unsafe environment or have already caused workplace injuries, then the agency may impose penalties on the site owners. Any evidence of negligence on the part of the employer or site owner revealed by an OSHA inspection may be used by an injured worker in a personal injury claim against the negligent party.
Construction site workers who believe that they have been injured in a construction site accident caused by poor safety conditions at work are advised to contact a construction law attorney to discuss a potential claim.