How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 57 severe cases involving bridges and dams over the past decade. Fractures are the most common injury, representing 65% of all reported incidents and often requiring extensive surgical intervention and long-term rehabilitation.
These injuries are particularly severe because they frequently involve high-elevation falls or structural failures. You may suffer damage to multiple body parts, leading to complex recovery paths that require significant medical and financial support.
How these injuries happen
Most injuries involving bridges and dams occur when you fall to lower levels, often due to missing guardrails or unstable work platforms. Other common scenarios include structural collapses during the construction phase or being struck by heavy materials that fall from overhead work areas.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 40 |
| 2 | Fall on same level | 3 |
| 3 | Collapse, engulfment— building or structure | 2 |
| 4 | Fall to lower level from collapsing structure or equipment | 2 |
| 5 | Struck against stationary object | 2 |
| 6 | Caught or wedged between objects— nonrunning | 1 |
| 7 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 1 |
| 8 | Struck by falling object | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 82% of all severe incidents involving bridges and dams. The high-risk nature of these projects, combined with the constant movement of heavy materials and work at extreme heights, creates an environment where even minor safety lapses lead to catastrophic outcomes.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve you falling from bridge decks, getting limbs caught in hydraulic equipment, or being struck by falling construction debris. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if employer negligence contributed to your injury.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | OH | Construction | "An employee was working to install overhead brackets for bridge construction. They went to move a generator and fell 38-feet from the bridge deck that was under construction. The employee sustained fractures to their hip, right femur, left wrist, and ankle. " | |
| 2025 | GA | Manufacturing | "On April 24, 2025, an employee was opening a cylinder door on a hydraulic bridge to remove lumber when their left middle finger was caught between the door and the hydraulic bridge, resulting in an amputation without bone loss." | |
| 2025 | FL | Administrative Services | "An employee was working on the construction of a bridge when an orange cone fell where the bridge was going to be placed. The employee went to remove it and fell through a gap approximately 9 feet to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with fractures to her ankle and arm." | |
| 2025 | MS | Construction | "An employee had been chipping out concrete from the outside curve of a bridge. The employee fell approximately 15 feet from the bridge to the ground. The employee was hospitalized. " | |
| 2024 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was walking across a foot bridge at the workplace. They rolled their right ankle on the transition between the bridge and the ground and fractured it." | |
| 2024 | GA | Construction | "On October 19, 2024, an employee on an ariel lift was unbolting angle iron from a bridge section being set with a crane. The bridge section moved and the employee's right hand was crushed between the steel and the concrete." | |
| 2024 | OH | Construction | "An employee was cleaning broken-up concrete off a bridge deck. He stepped out on a wood deck that was supported by bridge hangers. The bridge hangers at this area of the deck failed and the deck fell. The employee fell 26 feet to the ground below the bridge. The employee sustained fractures to their C7, T5,and T6 vertebrae, and their right hip was dislocated." | |
| 2024 | FL | Construction | "On May 21, 2024, temporary concrete barriers along a bridge edge were being moved two feet back using a front-end loader with forks. The forks became entangled in some rebar, so the barrier being lifted was set back down. The injured employee went to investigate, lost his footing, and fell backward off the edge of the bridge deck 24 feet to the lower boom of the mobile elevated work platform (MEWP). He then fell from the MEWP another 5 feet onto soft mud ground. He sustained a head laceration, punctured lungs, and fractures to his pelvis and leg." | |
| 2024 | LA | Arts & Entertainment | "A prom was being lifted due to the water level of a river. A cable gave way and the prom collapsed, hitting the first level of a barge and injuring seven employees. Two of the employees were hospitalized, having suffered broken bones, head injuries, and leg injuries." | |
| 2023 | NJ | Professional Services | "An employee was visually observing the work area on a pedestrian bridge and photographing the conditions. As the employee was inspecting the exposed rebar from the outside of the staircase structure along the edge, they slipped on construction dirt and debris. The employee fell approximately 12-13 feet to the concrete sidewalk below, resulting in fractures to the L1 endplate, right humeral shaft, right elbow, right distal radius, 8th rib, pelvis, and right ring finger." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Workers' Compensation is designed to cover injuries you sustain during the course of your employment, regardless of the specific height or location of the bridge. An attorney can help you ensure your claim accurately reflects the severity of your fractures and long-term recovery needs.
Employers are strictly required to provide fall protection and safe working conditions under OSHA standards. If a failure to provide necessary safety gear led to your injury, you may have grounds for a claim beyond standard Workers' Compensation, and an attorney can help you evaluate those options.
Proving liability often involves gathering evidence of safety violations, such as missing guardrails or inadequate training records. An attorney can help you secure these documents and build a case that holds your employer accountable for failing to maintain a safe site.
Many fractures sustained in high-elevation falls require multiple surgeries and can result in permanent loss of mobility or function. An attorney can help you document the full extent of your medical needs to ensure your benefits account for both current and future care.