Construction is one of the most essential businesses all over the world, it includes building houses, roads, bridges and many more things. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), around 6.5 million people are working at thousands of different construction sites. Thus, 5 accidents and injuries are very common here in this industry where falls and hazards do keep happening. However, here we are going to talk about occupational health problems that most of the workers go through.
Occupational diseases may go unnoticed for many years, which can later become irreparable damage lifelong. There is something called a worker’s compensation claim that you can make in case you have faced any such occupational diseases due to working in this industry. Powers & Santola LLP is here to help you fight for your rights when you have incurred injuries. They are the best construction accident attorneys in Rochester who are working since 1987.
Let us look at some of the most common diseases here:
- Asthma: Construction sites usually have a lot of activities that lead to dust and particles around the site. Thus, asthma is a common problem that occurs in such conditions. Asthma is a condition that makes a person partially disabled, which puts limitations to his work.
- Cancer: Earlier in the 1980’s most of the building materials included asbestos fibre to fireproof and insulate the structure. These microscopic fibres can lead to problems like mesothelioma, which is a very rare kind of cancer. Though this has improved over the last 20 years, there are still life-threatening cases. Early diagnosis can help lower the risk in many cases.
- COPD: Also called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an enhanced form of asthma. Here the particles can affect the airways causing them to swell. Thus, when you breathe the air gets trapped in the lungs and the body becomes oxygen starved.
- Dermatitis: This is a condition called eczema. Various external factors as well as genetic can lead to dermatitis. There are 3 types of this:
- Atopic: This eczema is related to asthma. Here you might get rashes or itchiness on the face and scalp
- Contact: This is caused when you come in contact with a poison like an ivy. The symptoms are the same like atopic
- Seborrhoeic: This is dandruff that is common and treatable.
- Musculoskeletal disorder: This is caused due to works like lifting, shifting, bending, stooping that can affect the muscles and the bones.
Many companies need to pay more importance to the safety and health of the workers by using preventive measures to avoid more exposure to hazardous conditions.
