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If you run a construction business, you know the job site is full of hazards. Falls, heavy equipment, tight deadlines, every day brings risk. And when something goes wrong, workers’ comp claims can hit your bottom line hard. Here’s the reality: even with solid safety rules, accidents happen. That’s why workers’ compensation isn’t just a legal requirement, it’s your safety net. But what if you could cut down on claims before they start? Fewer injuries mean fewer headaches, lower premiums, and a stronger crew. We’ve broken down the five most common workers’ comp claims in construction and the practical steps you can take to prevent them. These aren’t complicated or expensive fixes. They’re smart moves that protect your people and your profits. 1. Falls from Heights According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , falls from heights are the leading cause of death in construction, accounting for roughly 38% of all construction fatalities. Working on ladders, scaffolds, and rooftops is part of the job, but one slip can lead to broken bones, head injuries, or severe back trauma. These accidents don’t just hurt workers; they can derail projects and drain your budget. How to prevent them: Provide fall protection gear like harnesses, self-retracting lifelines, and shock-absorbing lanyards. Inspect ladders, scaffolds, and PPE regularly to ensure stability and compliance. Train your team to recognize fall hazards and use equipment correctly. A single fall can cost tens of thousands in claims and downtime, investing in prevention is far cheaper than paying for recovery. 2. Struck by Objects Construction sites are busy places with tools, materials, and machinery moving constantly. It only takes one dropped wrench or swinging load to cause a serious injury. OSHA reports that “struck-by” hazards account for about 15% of construction-related deaths. How to prevent them: Hard hats aren’t optional, make sure everyone wears one. Secure tools with lanyards and store materials properly so they don’t fall. Keep pathways clear and set up designated routes for equipment. Struck-by injuries often lead to head trauma or fractures, simple steps like tool lanyards and clear zones can save lives and lawsuits.   3. Overexertion and Repetitive Motion Injuries Construction is tough on the body. Heavy lifting, bending, and repetitive tasks can lead to strains, joint pain, and long-term injuries. Studies show that 23% of non-fatal construction injuries are directly related to overexertion. How to prevent them: Use equipment like forklifts, carts, and wheelbarrows to move heavy loads. Teach proper lifting techniques. Rotate tasks so workers aren’t doing the same motion all day. Encourage stretching and warm-up routines before shifts. These injuries creep up over time, addressing them early keeps your crew healthy and your projects on schedule.   4. Caught-In/Between Accidents These are some of the scariest accidents on a job site. Getting trapped by machinery, pinned between equipment, or buried in a trench can be fatal. Caught-in/between hazards rank among OSHA’s “Fatal Four,”  causing about 5% of construction fatalities. How to prevent them: Train workers to recognize these hazards and stay alert. Use machine guards and lockout/tagout procedures during maintenance. Follow trench safety rules, never let anyone enter an unprotected trench. These incidents often result in catastrophic injuries; strong safety protocols can mean the difference between life and death.   5. Slips, Trips, and Falls Even on the ground, slips and trips are a big problem. Wet surfaces, cluttered work areas, and uneven terrain cause injuries every day. In 2022, construction accounted for almost half of all fatal slip, trip, and fall incidents. How to prevent them: Keep work areas clean and organized. Require sturdy, slip-resistant footwear, and consider reimbursing workers for quality boots. Make sure lighting is good and warning signs are posted where needed. Slips and trips may seem minor, but they’re among the most common and costly claims in construction. Good housekeeping pays off.   Construction is risky, but smart safety practices can cut down on accidents and claims. Workers’ compensation is essential; it protects your employees and your business when things go wrong. But the fewer claims you have, the better for everyone.   Ready to protect your team and your bottom line?   Work Comp Associates, Inc.  is here to guide you through workers’ comp compliance and cost-saving strategies.  Contact us today for a free quote.   📞 Contact Information:   Phone: (561) 500-3592   Email:  Mail@WorkCompAssociates.com   Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM – 12:00 Noon & 1:00 PM – 4:45 PM (Eastern Time)

Ladders have always been a common tool—but under today’s safety standards, they come with new responsibilities. With OSHA’s update to Subpart D, a major change is reshaping how organizations must think about fixed ladders. Any ladder that extends 24 feet or more above a lower level is now required to include fall protection. That applies to single ladders and to multiple ladder sections where the total fall distance is continuous. This session breaks down what that regulation means for facility managers, safety professionals, and anyone responsible for keeping workers safe at height. We’ll focus on the practical side of compliance: how to assess your existing systems, how to plan updates before the 2036 deadline, and how to avoid costly missteps along the way. Whether you manage a few fixed ladders or hundreds, this session offers clear guidance on how to move forward with confidence, meet compliance requirements, and protect the people who count on your systems every day. Event type:   Live Webinar           Cost:           Free Date:              Feb. 26, 2026            Time:          2:00 PM ET Event Host:  OH&S                         Duration:   1 hour   Click here to Register

Safety training is critical to ensure employees know how to perform their jobs safely and without injury so they can go home to their families each workday. You'll walk away from this event knowing who should receive training, when training should (or must) be provided, and why providing that training is important.   Topics to be covered include: Powered Industrial Trucks Hazard Communication Lockout/Tagout Bloodborne Pathogens Personal Protective Equipment You will also have a chance to get your questions answered throughout the live event! Event type:   Live Webinar      Cost:          Free Date:              March 18, 2026         Time:         2:00 PM ET Event Host:  JJ Keller                       Duration:  1 hour   Click here to Register

Workplace safety isn’t optional—it’s a leadership responsibility. The OSHA General Duty Clause requires employers to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause serious harm. When no specific standard applies, this clause becomes critical—and enforcement is on the rise, with hundreds of recent violations. Join us to learn: What the General Duty Clause means for your business How OSHA applies it during inspections Common violations and how to prevent them Practical strategies for identifying and controlling hazards Building a proactive safety culture We'll finish with a 15-minute Q&A to address your compliance questions. Event type:   Live Webinar             Cost:          Free Date:              March 4, 2026            Time:         11:00 AM ET Event Host:  JJ Keller                        Duration:  1 hour   Click here to Register

If an OSHA inspector shows up at your workplace, would you be prepared? Do you know what triggers an inspection—or how to reduce your risk altogether?   During this information-packed webcast you’ll learn: How to assess your risk of an OSHA inspection What inspectors look for when they arrive on-site What to expect throughout the inspection process Proven tips for helping the inspection run smoothly Your company’s rights during an OSHA inspection How to respond effectively to citations Strategies to help prevent future inspections Bring your questions and get real-time answers during our live Q&A session.   Event type:   Live Webinar            Cost:          Free Date:              March 12, 2026         Time:          11:00 AM ET Event Host:  JJ Keller                       Duration:   1 hour   Click here to Register

In this webcast, participants will gain comprehensive knowledge and practical insights on conducting workplace safety audits effectively. This presentation aims to equip viewers with a step-by-step guide, empowering them to ensure a safe and secure work environment. Key highlights include: Identifying and addressing common workplace safety issues Strategies for enhancing worker and supervisor engagement Developing a comprehensive plan and documenting the audit process We’ll save the last 10-15 minutes to answer your questions. Register today to find out how you can improve workplace safety audits and plan for a potential OSHA visit!   Event type:   Live Webinar             Cost:          Free Date:              March 3, 2026            Time:         1:00 PM ET Event Host:  JJ Keller                        Duration:  1 hour   Click here to Register

The presenter will share 28 years of experience with lockout tagout programs in various industries. Lockout tagout compliance seems to never have an end. Developing hundreds of procedures, maintaining them, training employees. We will focus on the discussion on how to start your program and address some key considerations: 1. Types and number of locks and hardware 2. Documenting your procedures 3. Location and style of isolation points   Event type:   Live Webinar                Cost:          Free Date:              March 5, 2026               Time:          1:00 PM ET Event Host:  SafeX                               Duration:   1 hour   Click here to Register

February 10, 2026 Florida lawmakers have filed a bill to penalize companies employing undocumented immigrants who get hurt on the job, months after  a Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed  a state contractor has relied on migrant labor for years with deadly consequences. Senate Bill 1380 would require employers who knowingly hire people not authorized to work in the United States to pay for those workers’ medical bills if they get hurt. It would do so by making those companies “personally and fully liable” for the medical expenses and prohibiting them from trying to “shift financial responsibility” by having an “insurance company, a state agency, or any other entity” pay for treatment. If an employer violates those rules, they could lose their business license in Florida and pay a fine of up to $50,000. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, also sets fines for companies that knowingly hire undocumented immigrants. “We’ve done so much to go after the individuals breaking the law on the employee side, and we know there’s reasons why people break the law. Many people come here that want a better life,” Martin said. “What we can’t have are some (employers) ... that are taking shortcuts because they’re willing to break the law.” Martin confirmed that the bill would apply to state contractors. Its language came from Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who in December declared the bill one of his top priorities for the 2026 legislative session. Neither Ingoglia nor his spokesperson responded to texts, calls and emails over two weeks asking if any parts of the bill were proposed in response to the Times’ reporting. “If you have somebody break an arm and it’s going to cost them $20,000, why should the workers’ comp system — why should other businesses and other employees have to pay for that, when you’re the one breaking the law by hiring them in the first place?” Ingoglia said at the news conference. In an investigation published in October, the Times revealed that state road-builder Archer Western saw eight of its workers die from 2016 to 2023. In a series of incidents, men were crushed by heavy equipment, hit by cars and drowned after falling off a barge. The deaths meant the company had a fatality rate more than double the construction industry average. At least three of the men who died were undocumented. Archer Western workers also suffered serious injuries during this period — including a skull fracture, punctured lung and four separate instances of finger amputations — though its workers reported fewer injuries than the industry average. Workplace safety experts said undocumented workers are more likely to underreport injuries. Despite its alarming record, the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantishas awarded Archer Western and its partners nearly $1.6 billion in contracts, continuing to pay the company even after state officials acknowledged two of the deaths in court. Florida officials,  including DeSantis , have defended the state’s relationship with Archer Western, saying the company followed the correct hiring procedures. The company has said safety is a “foundational value.” Depending on how many undocumented employees a company knowingly hires, it could have its business license suspended or revoked by the state under this bill. Hiring more than 50 people in the country without legal status would be a third-degree felony.

February 4, 2026 Bills in two states would restrict or restructure workers compensation benefits based on immigration status, reopening long-running debates over the scope of the workers comp “grand bargain” and raising new legal and coverage questions for employers and insurers. Florida and New Jersey lawmakers introduced bills last month that would tighten eligibility for certain workers compensation benefits for undocumented workers or shift liability away from insurers. Similar proposals have surfaced periodically over the past decade in other states, but few have advanced into law. Florida’s H.B. 1307 is among the most sweeping. The bill would require employers to confirm work authorization through an “E-Verify” system before submitting a workers compensation claim. If an injured worker is found to be unauthorized, employers — not insurers — would be liable for medical and indemnity costs, with insurers not liable for covering those losses. S.B. 1521 in New Jersey would bar many undocumented workers from receiving wage-replacement benefits under workers’ compensation and temporary disability programs. While it’s unclear whether the proposals will pass this year, lawyers and claims executives warn that restricting access to workers compensation could undermine the system’s original purpose. “If you take away workers comp, you take away exclusive remedy,” said Jeff Adelson, a partner with Irvine, California-based law firm Bober, Peterson & Koby. “And if you take away exclusive remedy, then yes — I firmly believe they can sue.” Workers compensation systems are embedded in state constitutions, Mr. Adelson said, and unless a constitution explicitly bars claims by undocumented workers, denying benefits risks unraveling the trade-off at the heart of the system: guaranteed benefits for injured workers in exchange for employer immunity from civil lawsuits. This appears to be a concern industrywide, said Alan G. Brackett, a member at New Orleans-based law firm Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand & Brackett. “If you remove the remedy altogether, then there’s going to be a tort action pursued,” he said. Narrowing eligibility also raises broader liability concerns, according to Irina Simpson, Philadelphia-based executive vice president of workers compensation at Gallagher Bassett. “When we look at social inflation and explosive verdicts on the casualty side, workers comp has been a safety net,” Ms. Simpson wrote in an e-mail. “These changes remove that protection and predictability.” Experts agree, however, that an undocumented worker is less likely to sue, given the current immigration climate. Brad Young, a member at Chesterfield, Missouri-based law firm Harris Dowell Fisher & Young, said states are increasingly trying to reconcile workers compensation laws with the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act, which makes it unlawful to knowingly hire unauthorized workers. “Immigration status has traditionally been irrelevant to whether someone was injured at work and entitled to benefits,” Mr. Young said. Courts have generally been reluctant to allow immigration law to disrupt the workers compensation compact that has existed for more than 100 years, he said. Insurers, however, are beginning to push back, Mr. Young said, arguing that they should not be required to cover employers whose conduct violates federal law. Florida’s proposal, which preserves benefits for injured workers while shifting payment responsibility to employers, reflects that emerging compromise. “The claimant still gets benefits,” Mr. Young said. “They just come from the employer, not the carrier.” Mr. Brackett said it is notable that federal workers compensation systems have largely avoided immigration-status restrictions, even amid heightened national focus on illegal immigration. “The case law under the Longshore Act has always been: If they’re your employee, you owe them benefits,” Mr. Brackett said. After major Gulf Coast hurricanes, he noted, shipyards and maritime employers saw an influx of undocumented workers and a corresponding rise in claims under the federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. The Florida bill, placing responsibility on employers that fail to verify authorization, is “interesting,” Mr. Brackett said, but the approach still could become “very messy,” particularly if employers argue they paid premiums expecting coverage. From a claims-handling perspective, according to Ms. Simpson, excluding undocumented workers would fundamentally change how the system operates. Claims professionals would need new tools to identify and confirm work authorization, she wrote, shifting claims handling from an “employee-advocacy” model to a more investigative posture. Because workers compensation is state-specific, such changes also would create inconsistent protocols, exposures and compliance obligations across jurisdictions. Removing eligibility may not reduce risk, Ms. Simpson added, but instead introduce new legal, medical and operational concerns. “Operationally speaking, the challenges of executing a system with this level of variation and detail would be more than complex,” she wrote. “It would also invite significantly higher regulatory, governmental and public scrutiny, increasing compliance costs and ongoing legal spend.” Workers comp was “never intended to function as an immigration enforcement mechanism,” said Margarita Santos Krncevic, of counsel at Cleveland-based firm law firm Benesch, who handles mostly employment and immigration matters. Efforts to exclude undocumented workers have repeatedly stalled, Ms. Santos Krncevic said, in part because of the complexity of immigration status. Workers may be authorized through a range of visas or pending asylum claims, and employers often cannot reliably detect fraudulent documents. “It’s putting an extra burden on employers to make that distinction,” she said. If those workers are excluded from workers compensation, she said, the costs do not disappear. “They’re going to end up in emergency rooms with no insurance,” she said. “Then the question becomes: Who bears that cost?”

February 3, 2026 Employers looking for help on how to structure their workplace safety and health programs just received a roadmap from OSHA’s new Safety Champions Program. The Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, David Keeling, recently announced the launch of the voluntary, self-guided initiative outlining several core practices employers should incorporate into their workplace safety and health plans. Rather than another compliance checkbox, this program represents OSHA’s shift away from harsh enforcement-based compliance toward encouraging proactive risk management and prevention. While participation in the program doesn’t guarantee compliance with the law, it can provide a valuable roadmap to help elevate your company’s safety culture and reduce injuries and illnesses. Here’s everything you need to know about this new initiative and what it recommends. What Is The New Program? The  Safety Champions Program  is a free, self-paced blueprint designed to provide organizations of any size with tools to develop and implement comprehensive safety and health programs. It includes three progressive levels and employers may request an assessment from an OSHA “Special Government Employee” to gauge their progress. Unlike enforcement-driven compliance programs, the initiative is built directly on  OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs , and provides a practical roadmap for organizations seeking to improve their safety program. In describing the purpose of the new program, Keeling posted on  LinkedIn  that “it is vitally important that we at OSHA meet our constituents where they are.” He described OSHA as “constructively dissatisfied” with their current outreach programs and offerings. As a next step toward more proactive outreach, OSHA introduced Safety Champions. How Does the Program Work? The main tenets of the program are drawn from  OSHA’s Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs . These include: 1. Management Leadership  – Management commits to continuous improvement in safety and health, sets clear program expectations, and establishes responsibilities throughout the organization. 2. Worker Participation  – Workers are actively involved in all aspects of the safety and health program, from hazard identification to control measure selection and evaluation. 3. Hazard Identification and Assessment  – Ongoing processes systematically identify and assess workplace risks and potential hazards. 4. Hazard Prevention and Control  – Employers and workers cooperatively identify and select methods for eliminating, preventing, or controlling workplace hazards. 5. Education and Training  – Workers receive training on how the program works and understand their role in maintaining a safe workplace. 6. Program Evaluation and Improvement  – Control measures are periodically evaluated and refined to ensure their continued effectiveness. 7. Communication and Coordination  – For host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies, all parties commit to providing the same level of safety and health protection to all employees. Three-Step Process Rather than a one-size-fits all approach, the Safety Champions Program offers three steps that participants can pursue at their own pace and based on their needs: Introductory Step : Participants can assess their current safety and health practices against  OSHA’s Recommended Practices , identify gaps, and begin implementing basic safety program elements. This level is ideal for organizations beginning their safety journey or looking to establish foundational safety infrastructure. Intermediate Step : Organizations implement more comprehensive safety initiatives, enhance worker participation, and develop more robust hazard prevention and control measures. Advanced Step :  At this level, participants have integrated all seven elements into their organizational culture and demonstrate sustained commitment to safety excellence. Organizations at this level typically have strong safety metrics, continuous improvement processes, and worker engagement at all levels. A Word of Caution While the Safety Champions Program provides a valuable framework and structure for a safety program, it is important to recognize that participation alone does not eliminate workplace hazards, nor does it ensure compliance with all OSHA standards, or prevent employers from receiving OSHA citations. While the program provides an outline of a comprehensive safety and health program, it’s a starting point only. Your safety team must ensure that it translates the program into tangible protection for your workers. Getting Started: 5 Action Steps for Your Company If you are interested in participating in OSHA’s Safety Champions Program, here is how to begin: 1. Review Your Current Safety Program  – Assess your company’s existing safety and health policies, practices, and documentation. 2. Designate a Safety Leadership Team  – Assign clear responsibility for program management and implementation. Ensure workers are represented in the process. 3. Visit the OSHA Safety Champions Website  –To learn more about the program, access resources and register,  visit its website . 4. Determine Your Starting Point  – Decide whether to begin at the introductory level or, if your organization already has a mature safety program, consider starting at the intermediate or advanced level. 5. Develop Your Implementation Plan  – Create a timeline for addressing each core element, assign responsibilities, establish metrics for success, and plan periodic reviews of your progress.