St. Louis Legal Blog

Many of the accidents that occur at construction sites in Missouri involve scaffolding. In fact, scaffolding accidents collectively cost U.S. employers $90 million annually in lost work days due to related injuries. Improper scaffolding consistently ranks as one of the top OSHA violations. It's also estimated that more than 2 million construction workers, representing nearly 70 percent of the construction industry, frequently perform work involving scaffolding. This is why OSHA has established scaffolding-related guidelines to help improve worker safety when scaffolding is used.

According to OSHA, the first step an employer can take to reduce workers' compensation claims related to scaffolding accidents is to firmly secure it. Scaffolding must be accessible by ladders and stairwells, placed 10 feet away from power lines and able to support its own weight along with four times its maximum load capacity without displacement or settling. The agency also prohibits the use of barrels, concrete blocks and other unstable objects to support scaffolds or planks. Also, a competent person must supervise scaffolding dismantling and movement.

All companies should have a policy in place stating what should happen when a worker sustains an injury on the job. It is vital for certain industries in particular to have such a policy. In 2017, the jobs with the highest rates of workplace injuries were laborers, truck drivers and janitors. 

Many companies will have employees go to a company-specified doctor. You should listen to this doctor's advice, but it is also a good idea to seek a second opinion if the doctor tells you anything you are skeptical of. There are signs a company doctor may not have your best interests at heart, so watch out when he or she does the following. 

Commercial truckers in Missouri may be aware that the number of fatal crashes involving those in their industry is rising. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported a 9 percent increase in 2017 with a total of 4,761 people killed. Of these, about 1,300 were truckers themselves.

Some say that more truckers are trying to work around an unpopular rule that requires them to take a 30-minute break after eight consecutive hours of driving. Truckers may speed in their effort to make deadlines or become fatigued as a result of that break. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is reviewing 5,200 comments proposing changes to its hours-of-service rules, and the break rule has received the most feedback.

Missouri continues to work toward helping reduce teen fatalities on the state's roadways by ensuring all teen drivers receive enough training with the Graduated Driver License law. When a teen is 15 years of age and can pass the vision, road sign recognition and written tests at a Highway Patrol examination station, they are eligible for an instruction permit. They can drive with licensed drivers who are 25 or older. At 16, a driver may graduate to an intermediate license after having a permit for at least 182 days and passing the written test again if results from the first one are over a year old. They must also pass the Highway Patrol driving test. The last step in the process is to obtain an under-21 full driver's license at age 18 or older.

National Teen Driver Safety Week is a good time to review new research published by the AAA Foundation. Over 1 million car accidents involving teen drivers occurred on the nation's roadways during 2016, and these crashes accounted for over 3,200 fatalities.