A fatal accident involving a worker last week at a construction site in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina highlights the persistent dangers of the construction industry. Construction worker Jonathan Beatty, a worker installing elevators for Thyssenkrupp Elevator Corp., died after when he was struck on the head by a tool that fell from the 11th floor of a closed elevator shaft. It is not clear whether Beatty, age 24, was wearing a safety helmet.

This accident is just the latest in a string of Charlotte construction accidents. A week earlier, two workers were injured in a fall in South Charlotte. A couple of weeks earlier, shards of glass and steel beams fell from a high rise construction site, with one beam even striking a school bus. And while many experts say that such a rash of accidents is inevitable given the construction boom in the Charlotte area, such incidents should cause everyone to take a deep breath and review safety procedures even more closely.

According to most regulators and safety experts, most construction accidents are caused by faulty equipment, carelessness or inexperience, all of which could be prevented with proper training and basic safety measures.

The construction industry claimed the lives of more than 1,000 American workers last year, with 103 of those deaths occurring in non-residential building construction. That is the highest number in five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the overall rate of injury is down somewhat, construction-related fatalities tend to be higher than in other jobs. In North Carolina, for example, 36 percent of on-the-job deaths this year have been construction related. That’s down from 45 percent last year, but up from 32 percent in 2006. Last year, being struck was the leading cause of construction-related deaths.

Batson-Cook, the construction site’s contractor, has been cited for more than 30 serious workplace safety violations since 2000, and ThyssenKrupp has been cited for more than 15 serious violations in that time, as well.

Sometimes, the slumping economy can play a part, driving employees out of some construction jobs and into others entailing different risks. But when the economy is difficult, it should be a priority for companies to take a deep breath and assess safety issues, taking into account current realities. The cost of proper training and awareness is miniscule compared to the costs if you don’t properly train workers.

It should never be a question as to whether or not a worker in an elevator shaft was wearing a helmet or not. Workers and supervisors should be trained to watch out for such problems, and address them constantly. The construction industry is an inherently dangerous industry; few would argue otherwise. But most of the accidents are caused by inattention to details, and a lack of awareness that can only be addressed through constant comprehensive safety training.

Tags: construction accidents, safety training, Worker Safety, Worker Training

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