As an employee, especially when working on a construction site, you should feel assured that your employer is going to foster a workplace that is free of any dangers. More specifically, you should trust that your employer is going to abide by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines. But unfortunately, OSHA violations still occur far too often in the state of Maryland. Read on to discover what the most common examples of OSHA violations are and how one of the seasoned Baltimore County workplace accident attorneys at the Law Offices of Markey & Orsi can help you fight back.
What are the most common examples of OSHA violations in the state of Maryland?
To reiterate, your employer has a duty of care and must ensure that the workplace is following the safety standards set forth by OSHA. So when they act negligently and fail to do so, this is when accidents occur. With that being said, below are the most common examples of OSHA violations that lead to personal injury accidents:
- Failing to classify and label hazardous chemicals.
- Failing to properly train employees on how to safely work with hazardous chemicals.
- Failing to order employees to use proper safety systems and hazard controls that prevent falls.
- Failing to properly train employees on how to prevent falls.
- Failing to provide employees with eye, face, and head protectors.
- Failing to order employees to wear respirators.
- Failing to properly train employees on how to select, fit, clean, use, maintain, and repair respirators.
- Failing to properly train employees on how to safely operate a powered industrial truck.
What injuries and damages are associated with these violations?
With an OSHA violation comes the possibility of employees incurring serious injuries and damages. Namely, you may suffer from burns, lacerations, scarring, sprains, broken bones, electrocutions, or reactions to chemicals. But these injuries can be as severe as permanent disfigurement or brain damage. This may also lead to you being unable to return to your job for days, weeks, months, or even years. What’s worse, you may be unable to return to your field of work indefinitely. Ultimately, you may suffer from lost wages, which does not help with the financial burden you are already carrying with your hefty medical bills.
For these reasons alone, you may want to look into filing a workers’ compensation claim. This may just be the only way in which you can cover the expenses you incurred and properly heal.
But first, you must report the accident to your employer within 10 days of its occurrence. And so, to best keep up with the deadlines that come with a workers’ compensation claim, you must retain the services of a competent personal injury attorney in Baltimore County. Call us today.
