Employees in Tennessee may benefit from understanding more about commonly used statistics relating to workplace accidents, as described by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration operating within the DOL is described as a small organization tasked with the inspection of around eight million workplaces across the country in order to promote the safety and health of approximately 130 million U.S. employees.
The OSHA deploys around 2,200 compliance officers to worksites throughout the country, designating one inspector per 59,000 employees. The OSHA budget increases each year, totaling over $550 million during fiscal year 2014. During 2013, the OSHA conducted more than 50,000 State Plan inspections and nearly 40,000 Total Federal inspections. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4,400 employees died from a work-related injury in 2013. The fatality rate was 3.2 deaths per 100,000 full-time employees, equating to over 12 workplace fatalities per day, on average.
Contractors were involved in 17 percent of the fatal workplace injuries that were reported during the year. There were more than 3,900 workplace fatalities involving private employers, while more than 20 percent of these were associated with occupations related to construction. The four most common causes of workplace fatalities, falls, blunt force, electrocution and being caught in confined spaces, accounted for nearly 60 percent of the deaths during the year. Falls accounted for almost 37 percent of the total.
Workers who suffer an injury from a construction accident and are struggling to receive adequate benefits from an employer may benefit from confiding in legal counsel. A construction accident lawyer may be able to help these workers obtain full compensation for their injuries, including back pay and any workplace improvements that are required by OSHA regulations. These lawyers may also be effective in helping ensure injured workers receive adequate medical coverage as well.