When you think of possible places you may suffer from injuries, a scaffold may not immediately come to mind.
Working in construction often involves putting yourself in harm’s way, and climbing up on a walkway several feet above the ground is no different. Learning about scaffolds and how dangerous they are is important if you are struggling after a serious injury at work.
Poor choice of materials
According to the United States Department of Labor, weak planks and poorly constructed walkways can quickly collapse once they are officially in use. If your boss does not check for weaknesses in the materials before you build the scaffold, any weight can topple the structure.
Mistakes during construction
When workers are rushing to finish a job or are negligent, they may miss important parts of a design that they need to construct. They may also assemble the important load-bearing members, such as the poles or the frame, in an inaccurate way.
This can lead to an injury for you if the structure falls apart or becomes uneven while you are walking on it. Slipping and falling off of a scaffold is one of the most common ways to sustain a head or spinal cord injury on construction sites.
Unsafe coworkers
While on this temporary structure, your coworkers may ignore important safety rules meant to keep people around them from falling. This often includes rules about leaving tools out where they can trip fellow workers or leaving live electrical wires out where they can shock people.
Since even one mistake can lead to life-threatening injuries, you should always keep careful notice of how your injury happened for future reference.