MOST CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WHO SUFFER FATAL WORKPLACE INJURIES ARE LATINO

Fox News reports that New York City Latino construction workers disproportionately die on the job.  According to Fox, "From 2003 to 2011, three-fourths of construction workers who die were either U.S.-born Latinos or immigrants, according to a review of all of the fatal falls on the job investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration."  Consumer safety advocates in a study by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association cited safety violations on the job sites run by smaller, non‑union contractors and an unwillingness by some undocumented workers to report violations as the main reason for the high number of deaths among Latino workers. 

 

It is not clear if Latino construction workers disproportionately die in construction accidents in Philadelphia, but there is no reason to think that the same results would apply from an analysis of Philadelphia construction worker injuries. 

 

           

The Phony Light or Sedentary Job

Some employees make the mistake of failing to follow through in an offer of light or sedentary employment from their employer. If they fail to show up and find out what the job is all about, they will have no way to prove that the job was inconsistent with their medical restrictions or otherwise is in violation of the law. Invariably in those cases an employer witness will testify to a Workers' Compensation Judge that they would have accommodated whatever restrictions the employee had. Accordingly, except under the rarest of circumstances, an employee should make a good-faith attempt to follow through on any offers of employment.