Loss Of Life Can, And Does, Happen In Florida Workplaces
Florida residents that live and work in places like Parrish or Palmetto are generally more concerned with putting in an honest day’s work and collecting the salary that comes with it. Unfortunately, not all workers in Florida have the same level of safety. Some occupations put workers at more risk of injury or even death, and Florida has the numbers to show for it.
Hundreds Dead Every Year
In a survey of workplace-related fatalities, Florida, in the year 2020, had 275 deaths for workers in the state. That’s still an improvement from the all-time high of 422 in 2004. However, it shows a trending average for the state that, on average, at least 200 people in Florida will die from a work-related accident.
Of course, this isn’t restricted to just Florida. For the year of 2020, the entire United States had a total of 4,764 deaths across the nation. This means that every year, thousands of Americans suffer a loss of life from the most unexpected of areas, their place of work.
Why It Happens
Accidents can occur in a workplace for several reasons, but much of it centers on the location and type of work. For example, while not a common occupation, logging is the job with the highest risk of injury or loss of life. People who work in forests chopping down trees are exposed to dangerous, high-powered equipment like chainsaws that can do serious harm if people accidentally come into contact with them. Another major factor is that trees do not always fall as predicted, and being in the line of a tree fall can also result in serious injury.
While the specifics of these injuries are typically unique to an occupation, the causes of these accidents are often similar. Negligence, for example, is a common reason accidents at the workplace can occur. Negligence is an act of carelessness or, in some cases, deliberately ignoring a risk that can potentially harm people. Negligence can result from the employee being careless, other workers in the area being careless, and in some cases, carelessness on the part of management. How that negligence manifests varies depending on the occupation and characteristics of the workplace.
In the case of Florida, three types of workplace fatality take the lead in this state. They are:
Traffic Incidents
The number one cause of fatalities at work in Florida is death due to traffic incidents. This should come as no real surprise since the more time anyone spends on streets and highways increases the risk of exposure to a traffic accident. In this case, people who drive for a living, such as truckers, taxi drivers, couriers, and delivery people, are all at risk. 64% of the fatalities occurred in the trucking sector.
In 2020, there were 90 fatalities due to a transportation-related incidents. The specific details come from any number of expected accident causes, such as truckers making driver errors due to lack of sleep, drivers caught in accidents due to the drunk driving of others on the road, and more mundane causes, such as collisions at intersections as someone attempted to make a left turn quickly, without checking for clear lanes.
Slips & Falls
The next most common cause of workplace fatality are slips, trips, and falls. While many slips and falls usually just result in an injury that can be recovered, some workplaces leave employees in unavoidably riskier locations from which falls can be serious or even fatal. In 2020, 77 fatalities occurred due to slips, trips, and subsequent falls.
The construction industry is a leading example of where deaths can occur in Florida. Constructing a high-rise condominium or office building requires workers to operate at unavoidably fatal heights as the construction nears completion. Even when it’s not a high-rise, construction work on a home’s roof, for example, can cause a fatality depending on the point of impact when a person falls.
Substance Exposure
The third most common type of fatality in Florida workplaces is employee loss of life due to exposure to a dangerous substance. In 2020 there were 43 fatalities in Florida due to this type of risk. However, it’s important to understand that exposure to substances, in this case, doesn’t necessarily mean “exotic” substances like radiation or toxic chemical.
Electricity also counts as exposure to a dangerous substance, such as air and water pressure changes, temperature extremes, and illnesses like COVID-19.
Take Appropriate Action
Talk to a workplace accident attorney if you’ve been injured or a family member has lost their life while working. If the accident occurred due to the negligence of someone else at the workplace, or even negligence on the part of the management, they are legally responsible for that injury or loss of life.
Talking to an experienced workplace accident attorney means getting the help and guidance you need to ensure a fair settlement or, if necessary, a trial in court to legally hold those responsible for accounting for their actions.
