One worker is in critical condition and another was serious injured after being crushed under 1,000 pounds of rebar at a construction site on San Antonio’s West Side. Two other workers suffered injuries from debris.
About the San Antonio Construction Accident
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the accident occurred Thursday afternoon at a Texas Department of Transportation work site near Loop 410 and U.S. 90. Incident reports say a row of rebar support beams measuring about 20 yards long came crashing down on top of the workers.
Workers at the site were tying the rebar together in order to form a support structure when the accident occurred. During this process, one of the beams suspending the rebar tipped over, causing the hole bundle to crash down.
One of the workers was completely trapped under the rebar. He suffered multiple broken bones and serious head trauma. Another worker suffered serious injuries when his leg was caught underneath the rebar.
The construction site is meant to be a new access road from Loop 410 to westbound U.S. 90.
Construction Accident Statistics
The following information was provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):
- 4,836 workers were killed on the job in 2015. This averages to more than 93 deaths a week or more than 13 deaths every day.
- Of the 4,379 worker fatalities that occurred in private industry, 937 were associated with construction.
- The leading causes of construction-related deaths are:
- Falls
- Struck by object
- Electrocutions
- Caught-In/Between
