Did you just land a new job? Maybe you’ve been trying to break into the construction industry for a while, taking odd jobs and looking for something permanent, and you finally got it. You’re excited to get started and it feels like the future is bright.
It may be, but you need to remember that you have greater injury risks than many other workers. Specifically, studies have determined that someone who is still within their first 30 days has an injury risk level that is three times higher than workers that have worked for a year or more.
In short, that first year is critical. Your risk starts off three times higher and then starts dropping, but it does not really even out for 12 months. This is when you’re most likely to get hurt on the job. Even if it doesn’t happen in the first month, you do not want to get lax with your safety standards. This is when people suffer career-altering injuries.
Why is the risk higher? The biggest thing is just inexperience. You have to learn the job and so any level of risk is accentuated because you simply do not know what you’re doing yet. You need to learn the ropes, you’re more likely to make mistakes and there is no other way to get experience. As you learn from those mistakes, they become less common.
Safety training is also important. Workers with more experience know how to be safe on the job, but new workers are still figuring it out. They have to get proper training so that they know what to do before being turned loose on the job.
When workers do get hurt, they also need to know what legal steps to take.