On-the-Job Accidents Involving Transportation Cause the Most Worker Deaths in Illinois and Indiana
Working as a steelworker, ironworker, or on any kind of construction site here in our part of the country comes with all sorts of physical injury risks. Each industry has its own unique dangers, of course. Things are obviously very different in an Indiana mini-mill than on an Illinois road work construction zone.
Within the industry, each specific workplace also comes with hazards specific to that site. Still, every single one of these intense industrial jobs are notorious for being dangerous; workers are well aware that each day on the job comes with the possibility of being seriously hurt in a matter of seconds. For more detail, read our earlier discussions in Steelworkers’ Dangers on the Job: Top Five Steel Industry Hazards and New BLS Census on Deadly Work Accidents: Warning for Construction Workers.
There is one kind of work accident that comes with the highest risk of the worker dying on the job here, though. Fatal occupational injuries for industrial workers in Indiana and Illinois are most often caused by transportation-related accidents.
Worker Beware: Greatest Risk of Death on the Job is in Transportation Accident
The Indiana Department of Labor reports that 40.74% of worker deaths in the Hoosier State in the latest reporting year were caused by “transportation-related events and exposures.” The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that “transportation incidents” caused the most worker fatalities in Illinois, responsible for over a third of all worker deaths (35%).
More workers die in our part of the country from injuries caused by motor vehicles than in any other kind of job accident.
One of the key reasons for this sobering reality is the number of motor vehicles that may be in operation on any day of the week for a construction worker or someone on the job in a local steel mill. From trucks to cranes, railcars to the supervisor’s pickup truck, an amazing variety of motor vehicles may be moving around near workers busy on task.
What is a deadly transportation incident for a steelworker?
For steelworkers, transportation risks involve anything dealing with a motorized vehicle. However, circumstances in steel facilities (mills, fabricators, etc.) may include injuries involving things like:
- Boom trucks
- Bulk carriers
- Delivery vans
- Dump trucks
- Excavators
- Forklifts
- Haul trucks
- Loaders
- Mobile cranes
- Plant utility vehicles
- Powered industrial trucks
- Railcars
- Rail locomotives
- Semi-trucks
- Skid steers
- Tanker trucks
- Tractor-trailer trucks
- Yard tractors
- Yard tuggers.
What is a deadly transportation incident for a construction worker?
For construction sites in Illinois and Indiana, the risks of being killed in a transportation incident will depend upon the type of construction involved. Different projects mandate different transportation needs. There is an unprecedented amount of road construction work in Illinois today, as part of the historic Project Rebuild Illinois. This will come with much different risks of a motor vehicle work accident than someone working on a residential construction site in Indiana.
Construction workers in our part of the country need to be aware that any of the following specialized motor vehicles, no matter how commonplace to a construction site, come with the risk of fatal on-the-job injuries:
- Backhoes
- Bulldozers
- Concrete mixers
- Delivery trucks
- Dump trucks
- Forklifts
- Graders
- Haul trucks
- Loaders
- Paving machines
- Personnel lifts
- Pickup trucks (supervisor travel, etc.)
- Powered industrial trucks
- Pump trucks
- Rollers
- Scissor lifts
- Semi trucks
- Tractor-trailer trucks.
Why is Transportation Causing So Many Worker Deaths on Our Industrial Worksites?
Steel operations and construction sites are busy, often congested industrial workplaces, noisy places filled with all types of work being done at the same time. Coordination and control of things like traffic is extremely important in all this hubbub. Consider the following:
- Both worksites may be complicated by having multi-employer operations in progress where contractors, drivers, and crews are sharing space to do things like loading and unloading materials. Lack of proper site management can result in a serious accident.
- Both types of workplaces may have a huge number of different kinds of vehicles moving around at the same time. Flatbeds, yard trucks, and forklifts may be zipping around on the construction site as well as at the steel mill. Someone can be hurt and perish in a work accident caused by even an instant’s inattention by the operator of the vehicle.
- Some of the vehicles are behemoths, capable of transporting heavy and awkward loads (think large coils at the mill; concrete pilings on a construction site). Shifting loads, unsecured cargo, not enough visibility for the operator all can be the cause of a worker death.
- Both steelworkers and construction site workers may be hit by motor vehicles driven in work zones or areas designated for loading or unloading of material. Failures in things like coordination, warning signs, and speed limits are all reasons a worker may die in a preventable work transportation accident.
- Transportation accident fatalities in both industries also include drivers who are moving materials along highways and interstates as part of the industrial operation. Steel shipments, for instance, may be involved in a tragic truck crash involving a trucker moving a heavy truck to or from a local steel mill.
Worker Fatalities: Seeking Justice After Transportation Work Accident
It is a tragedy for any worker in Indiana or Illinois to go off to work one morning, and never return home because they have suffered bodily harm in a work accident that is so devastating that death results. It is frustrating to realize that so many workers are at risk each day from being catastrophically hurt or killed on the job from the well-known dangers of a “transportation-related incident.”
The death of a worker on a construction site or while on the job as a steelworker or ironworker in Illinois or Indiana comes with special legal protections. Laws covering the worker’s “wrongful death” provide help to surviving loved ones as well as justice to the estate of the deceased.
An investigation into the incident may reveal several different parties (companies and individuals) who have legal responsibility for what occurred. Each case is different and deserving of individual respect as the facts are found that confirm causation.
For more, read:
- Wrongful Death Claims in Illinois and Indiana: Different Laws Providing Justice after a Fatal Injury
- Wrongful Death Damages After Fatal Work Accidents in Illinois or Indiana
- Fatal Accidents and Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Indiana and Illinois
- The Reality of Widespread Industrial Work Accident Deaths in Illinois and Indiana: Warning to Our Workers.
Transportation incidents cause more deaths for workers in Indiana and Illinois than any other type of work accident. Construction workers and those on the job in our local steel operations face a great risk of being killed in a work accident involving a motor vehicle. Please be careful out there!
