Phoenix Workers' Compensation Law Blog

While many people in Arizona may think only workers in industries such as construction and manufacturing are at risk, occupational hazards exist in all sectors. They may be surprised to learn that there is more than one work injury that can happen in an office just as quickly as on a construction site. For that reason, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration expects employers in all industries to establish safety protocols that will address all known hazards.

Although it is true that chefs in busy kitchens face risks of being injured by sharp objects and hot steam, they face the same slip-and-fall dangers as office workers, construction workers and many others because spillages of liquids pose the same threat to all. The same goes for randomly placed objects that can cause workers in any environment to trip and suffer serious injuries. The risk of suffering musculoskeletal injuries are also as likely to affect an office worker who attempts push, pull or lift a heavy desk, carry office equipment or stretch to reach boxes of stationery on high shelves as a warehouse worker with similar duties.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, most workplace injuries are preventable. The owners of industrial facilities in Arizona must comply with safety regulations to protect the health and safety of employees. Disregard of safety rules can cause a manufacturing accident with devastating consequences. Collaboration between employers and employees can protect workers and company profits.

Safety training is essential, and it must cover safe operation of equipment and also equip workers with basic first-aid knowledge, which could save a co-worker's life. Providing the appropriate personal protective equipment is also crucial. Safety glasses, gloves, aprons and boots can prevent contact with hazardous chemicals, and applicable safeguards and lockout/tag-out devices on machinery can avoid contact with dangerous moving parts.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and its Department of Public Safety recently noted that hazardous material spills cause many problems each year. They were involved in cleanups of hazardous materials across the state in 2,000 incidents or accidents from 2007 through 2017. While the environmental consequences of hazardous material spills can be devastating, many result in work injury, and even death.

A few incidents that were mentioned in the report include a 2007 accident in which the driver of an 8,500-gallon diesel fuel tanker died when the truck caught fire after flipping over. In another incident in 2011, a fuel tanker driver was fortunate to escape with only a fractured pelvis and wrist when his truck also burned out. A pickup truck driver died after colliding with a tractor-trailer last year. The 4,500 gallons of fuel that spilled also ignited in that accident.

Construction workers in Arizona and elsewhere know the hazards posed by trenches. However, many of them still enter unprotected trenches, even when their employers fail to provide adequate support to prevent cave-ins. A construction worker who was one of the few survivors of a trench collapse in 2002 now explains his experience in an effort to create awareness of the dangers of taking shortcuts that could cause fatal work accidents.

He says he was 27 years old, newly married and planning to leave on his honeymoon with his new bride that afternoon. First, he had to lay a waterline at a depth of six feet in a trench. There was no time to wait for the protective trench box that was due to be delivered. He was crouching down when the trench walls collapsed, and he was crushed by the soil that engulfed him.