All too often, transportation-related accidents that occur during the course of a worker’s employment don’t involve “traditional” crash scenarios. Instead, workers sustain harm as a result of runover or backover accidents. Sometimes, these injurious events happen when workers are run over by their own vehicles while exiting them. Sometimes, others who don’t see the workers in question run them over or back over them, usually due to a blind spot and/or distraction-related concern.
This problem has become so pervasive that the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences has issued a workplace hazard alert on the subject to raise awareness of just how consequential this issue is becoming.
Crash compensation and prevention tips
According to data released by the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (OIOHS), during 2018-2021, 277 U.S. workers died from their injuries caused by workplace runover/backover accidents. While workers who are injured non-fatally can seek workers’ comp in the wake of such accidents – as can the surviving loved ones of those who are fatally injured – it’s obviously far, far preferable to keep workers safe in the first place.
In order to more effectively prevent these kinds of crashes from occurring, employers are advised to assign spotters to assist vehicle operators in scenarios where they could otherwise struggle with obstructed views. It is also advisable to outfit particularly large commercial vehicles with cameras and blind-spot sensors. While these investments in resources are not mandatory, they can help to safeguard the integrity of business operations, and – far more importantly – the health and well-being of workers.
When injurious accidents do occur, however, it’s important for those affected to remember that they’re almost certainly entitled to workers’ comp benefits in the wake of sustaining harm. Seeking legal guidance is generally a good way to start processing a significant workers’ comp claim.
