Which are the most dangerous occupations in Maryland? What types of fatal work-related accidents occur most frequently? As we look ahead to 2012, it’s worth looking to the recent past to consider Maryland workplace safety, accidents that happen on the job, and trends.
The answers may be found in the most recent Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) survey results, which are available to the public (see link below). Some highlights from the 2008 Maryland Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries…
> Nonfatal work related injuries and illnesses in Maryland declined in 2008, numbering at 75,000. Maryland is statistically one of the safer states in which to work in the U.S., with a “TRC” (total recordable case) incidence rate that’s 12 percent below the national average. (Md.’s TRC rate was, for 2008, 3.7 injuries and illnesses per 100 equivalent full-time workers.)
That’s the encouraging news.
However, as an experienced Hunt Valley, Maryland Work Accident Injury Attorney will attest, even one injury or death on the job is one too many. Where and how are workers statistically more likely to get hurt or killed in the course of their employment in Md.? According to the MOSH report…
> 60 work related deaths occurred in Maryland in 2008. Of those, four types of events claimed the most lives:
- Falls to a lower level (such as falling from a ladder, roof, scaffolding, or other construction accident)
- Workplace homicides
- Contact with electric current (electrocution)
- Highway incidents (which includes operating a motor vehicle as part of one’s employment. That can include salespeople who travel by car to pay sales calls to clients, as well as long-distance commercial truckers hauling cargo across Md. highways)
Other types of fatal Maryland work accidents included…
- Being caught in or compressed by equipment or objects
- Pedestrian incidents (such as a pedestrian accident where a worker on a job site is struck by a vehicle or other traffic accident)
- Aircraft incidents
> The Maryland construction industry sector recorded the most work fatalities, followed by the goods producing industry and the service industry.
A work related accident can involve both a Maryland Workers’ Compensation claim as well as legal proceedings. This is why it’s critical to contact an experienced work injury attorney as soon as possible. Please see our other resource links below for more information on Maryland work related accidents, Md. Workers Comp claims, and lawsuits in the State of Maryland.
Source:
Nonfatal Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in Maryland Decline in 2008, Research and Statistics
Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation; Division of Labor and Industry; Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH)
Related Maryland Injury Attorney Articles:
Maryland Workers’ Compensation Cost of Living Rate Adjustments for 2012 (Dec. 2011)