What do you need to know about caught-in/between accidents?

On the construction site in North Carolina, you may already be familiar with the various types of accidents that could lead to a caught-in or caught-between injury. While any type of construction accident may result in horrific injuries, these may be particularly devastating, as they often lead to amputations. They also are a common cause of death.

The Center for Construction Research and Training reports that caught-in/between accidents are one of the construction industry’s Focus Four injury types. The other three are falls, electrocutions and struck-by accidents.

A caught-in/between accident may be the result of materials, structures or equipment collapsing on a worker. Of the construction worker deaths in caught-in/between accidents in a recent four-year period, 52.4% of them were due to collapsing structures or equipment, 40.7% were due to a cave-in of excavation or trenching, 4.2% were due to landslides and 2.6% were in the Other category.

Of objects or equipment catching and/or compressing the worker between components, 45.3% involved running machinery or equipment, while in 14% of the accidents, shifting objects or equipment pinched or compressed workers. There were 40.7% caught-in/between accidents that did not meet the classifications of these categories but still fit the description of this type of incident.

As a construction worker, you are more at risk of this type of accident than workers in any other industry. During the same four-year period, manufacturing had the next highest number of fatal caught-in/between accidents. Agriculture came next, with significantly fewer fatalities.

This general overview of construction injury accidents is for educational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.