When regulators of certain high-risk industries release safety alerts, workers in those industries tend to take notice. However, there are times when certain safety alerts demand the attention of an even broader audience. After all, the actions of workers in certain high-risk industries can affect those in other occupations and even bystanders, depending on the circumstances at hand.
Take, for example, any industry that relies on trucking for operational sustainability. Trucking itself is a high-risk industry. But long-haul truckers aren’t the only ones who rely on trucking to keep their employers’ business models viable. It is this intersection of trucking and another high-risk industry – mining – that recently inspired a consequential regulatory body, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), to issue an urgent safety alert.
The inspiration for the alert
Just one day after the new year began, a mining worker was dumping gravel from a vehicle’s trailer when the trailer tipped. The tipping caused the trailer to land on the cab of the over-the-road, tractor-trail haul truck. As a result of this turn of events, the worker suffered fatal injuries.
The MSHA released a safety alert directing haulage drivers to dump only on surfaces that are level and do not risk spillage. This approach to dumping can help to prevent fatal and non-fatal injuries to those involved in dumping as well as to bystanders.
Compensation for dumping accidents
As most workers know, even the most safety-conscious employees and employers may not fully be able to prevent all work-related harm from occurring. As a result, while it’s good that the MSHA released this alert and heightened awareness of this concern, it’s also important for workers and their loved ones to understand that they are generally entitled to compensation in the event that work-related activity results in physical harm.
Workers’ compensation benefits are made available both to the survivors of workplace accidents and to the surviving loved ones of fatal workplace injuries. Understanding that learning more about these benefits is always an option can help affected workers and their families better ensure that they receive what they’re due.
