For those who work blue-collar jobs, workplace injuries can be fairly common. For workers who deal with electricity on a day-to-day basis in California, injuries suffered while on the job can cause serious bodily harm and even death in some cases. In the case of an energy department for the city of Los Angeles, the number of injured workers is on the rise, according the agency’s recent findings.
Last year, more of its employees were injured due to electrical shocks than in any year prior for the last decade. This year, the past decade’s average amount of injuries has already been reached. Although the agency has cut overall injury rates in half, that number still looms large, at about double that of the national average.
Workers leaving the agency as well as outside investigators both cited similar problems, including insufficient training and a lack of supervision and skilled electricians. These sorts of problems contribute to a very dangerous place to work. They have resulted in some serious injuries, including electrical third- and fourth-degree burns and shocks that have led to the hospitalization of many workers. Some have even lost body parts and suffered permanent disfigurements.
Though every blue-collar job contains its own inherent set of work-related dangers, companies and agencies are responsible for keeping their workers safe. When a worker is injured on the job, he or she is typically covered by the California workers’ compensation program. Workers’ compensation benefits are crucial for providing injured workers with the compensation necessary for their medical care as well as other expenses, such as regaining the income they have lost from work while they recover.
Source: dailynews.com, “Wave of electrical shocks brings DWP worker safety into question“, Mike Reicher, May 1, 2015