Every job has specific risks associated with it. Plumbing does not make it to the top of lists of the most dangerous jobs, but there are many ways that plumbers can get hurt or even killed at work. An Australian man recently died in the hospital from injuries he received when a pressurized water pipe burst and struck him in the head. The man was working at the iMax theatre construction site at Darling Harbour. This fatal workplace accident is currently being investigated by authorities, who are concerned about several workplace safety concerns that have been reported at the Darling Harbour site. Earlier this year, a Nebraska plumber died when the ceiling of the building where he was working on fixing a leaky pipe collapsed and pinned him under the debris.
Plumbers sometimes have to work on ladders or scaffolding to reach pipes and other equipment that are in high places. There is a risk of falling from a height when a plumber does a job that requires the use of scaffolding or a ladder. Confined space injuries are a job site risk for plumbers, who sometimes must go into pits, ducts, and other places that do not have a safe level of oxygen. Severe injury and death can result when a plumber is unable to breathe or becomes trapped in a confined space like a collapsed trench with no way to escape.
Some of the tools that plumbers use regularly are rather heavy. Pipe wrenches can weigh a lot. When a plumber uses pipe wrenches and other heavy tools frequently, the strain that their body experiences from that work can add up over time to produce repetitive motion injuries like muscle strains, back injuries, or soft tissue damage. There is a great deal of bending, carrying, and lifting, in a plumber’s typical workday, and injuries can result when loads are too heavy, or lifting is done improperly.
Sometimes, plumbers must work in areas where water and electricity are present near each other. That is a dangerous combination and can result in severe or fatal injury from electrocution. Plumbers use torches for soldering, and they can get burned by the torch, hot pipes, and even the solder itself. Soldering and working with plastic and metal pipes involves a range of chemical compounds. Some of the chemicals that plumbers use can cause severe damage if they get into eyes, and could contribute to illness or injury if used over the long term or without proper ventilation. Plumbers also come into contact with sewage regularly. Many serious and potentially fatal diseases can occur as the result of contact with raw sewage or soil that is contaminated with sewage. Hepatitis, E. coli, giardiasis, and encephalitis are just some of the illnesses that plumbers could be exposed to through their work.
If you are a plumber who suffered an injury on the job, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (800) 707-9577.