Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
Although it’s a great place to live, Illinois can sometimes be a seriously dangerous place to work, and no one knows this better that our Illinois workers compensation lawyers. They fight every day to find justice for accident victims, because every Chicago work injury lawyer at Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca has seen first-hand the dangers that workers face every day when they’re on the clock. Of course, while no job is completely safe from the threat of injury, some occupations are statistically more hazardous than others. If you work in one of the following fields, your job is one of the most dangerous in Illinois.
Most Dangerous Jobs Known to Illinois Workers Compensation Lawyers
1. Farming. Farmers are exposed to harsh chemicals. They work with live animals and heavy machinery nearly every day, and they often do it during hazardous weather and dangerous storms. For these reasons, farming accidents can be a lot more severe than those that happen in other lines of work.
In fact, farming accidents are 2.5 times more likely to result in amputation than injuries associated with other industries. According to the CDC and data gathered by the last U.S. census, “In 2010, 476 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury, resulting in a fatality rate of 26.1 deaths per 100,000 workers. Tractor overturns were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers.” Over 80% of Illinois’ total land mass is covered by farms – more than 28 million acres in total. There are over 76,000 farms in the state, each with their own owners, operators and farm hands.
2. Truck Driving. While operating large trucks full of heavy and sometimes dangerous cargo, many truck drivers are on the road for 14 continuous hours or more. Fatigue, hazardous road conditions and the unsafe actions of other drivers all contribute to trucking accidents. The job is so dangerous, in fact, that truck drivers account for 12% of all work-related deaths in the U.S. Any Chicago work injury lawyer will tell you that this profession is one of the most dangerous in Illinois, and with over a hundred trucking companies located in the state, it’s also one of the most common professions.
3. Construction. In 2011, 759 fatalities were reported in the construction industry. Statistics show that nearly four out of every 100 construction workers will suffer from injury, illness or death on the job every year, and as any Chicago work injury lawyer will tell you, construction workers are exposed to some of the most hazardous on-the-job conditions in the state. They operate heavy machinery like cranes, concrete mixers and jackhammers, spend hours next to busy highways, work with volatile chemicals and sometimes even work hundreds of feet in the air. It’s no wonder that so many employees become injured in this line of work.
What should you do if you’re injured on the job? No matter which field you work in, the first step you should take when you sustain an injury is to gather as much evidence as possible. If you can, snap some photos of the conditions that caused or contributed to your injury. Fill out a detailed report of the accident with your employers (make sure to retain a copy for yourself), and write down the names of anyone who was on the clock at the time and anyone who may have witnessed the accident. Then contact our Illinois workers compensation lawyers. Your personal Chicago work injury lawyer can help you get the compensation, and the justice, you deserve.
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