Construction is an extremely dangerous industry, and almost every job has some degree of danger for the workers involved. Welding involves using dangerous equipment. Installing wiring might lead to an accidental electrocution. Those working on top of or outside of tall buildings could fall, possibly with tragic results.
However, there is one common type of construction work that is more dangerous than any of the other jobs construction workers perform.
Excavation has more risk than other construction jobs
Excavation is the technical term for the process of removing dirt or demolition debris from a job site. Exclamation can help prepare a location for a foundation or help construction workers reinforce or waterproof existing structures underground.
Unfortunately, there are many risks involved in excavation. Much of the machinery is heavy and dangerous. Their size means that the risk is always present for a cave-in to occur, where the sides of an excavation trench fill in and trap workers.
Inclement weather, inadequate safety training and poorly maintained equipment may all exacerbate the risks involved in construction-based excavation work. Those many risk factors combine to put those who do excavation work at roughly twice the risk of dying on the job as anyone else on a construction site. There’s also the risk of suffering injuries so severe that they end your career in construction and permanently limit your earning potential.
Workers who are injured while digging a trench or otherwise working in construction generally have the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits for their medical treatment and lost wages until they can get back to work.