March 26, 2024

Work zone incidents and workplace violence

As a service to our policyholders, Texas Mutual shares serious workplace injury trends based on catastrophic injuries and fatalities reported to our claims department. Not all of these reported injuries are covered by workers’ compensation, but our goal is to help you ensure these types of incidents do not happen in your workplace. Find safety tips below to help keep your employees safe on the job.

If you have questions, we encourage you to contact our safety services support center at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723) or safety@texasmutual.com.

In this alert:

• Work zone incidents
• Workplace violence

Work zone incidents

An employee was preparing to direct traffic at a job site but was struck by a vehicle before work began. Unfortunately, the employee did not survive their injuries. In a separate incident, an employee was removing debris from the street when they were struck by a passing vehicle. This incident resulted in serious injuries.

In 2022, 33 Texas employees lost their lives after being struck by a vehicle on the job, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This accounted for over 10% of pedestrian workplace fatalities in the United States that same year. Special care must be given in work zones due to the dangers of oncoming traffic.

• Before entering a work zone near a roadway, ensure there are barricades, traffic signs or flaggers to alert drivers.
• Always wear high-visibility clothing in a work zone.
• While working, face the direction of traffic when possible.
• Be aware of your surroundings, avoiding distractions such as cell phones.
• As a pedestrian, do not assume to have the right of way and obey all traffic signals and flaggers’ instructions.

Workplace violence

Two employees were fatally shot in their workplace in a recent incident. This is one of six instances of workplace violence reported to Texas Mutual in the past 12 months.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 524 of the fatal workplace injuries in 2022 were due to workplace violence. This is an almost 9% increase from 2021. Workplace violence can affect any company and can involve co-workers, strangers, customers or even family and friends. It’s important to take all threats seriously and have a plan in place to address this hazard.

• Always follow company security procedures such as scanning your badge upon entry and denying entry to visitors who have not followed proper protocols.
• Look for warning signs such as loud speech, offensive language, or pacing and try to deescalate the situation by giving them respectful attention instead of arguing.
• If the situation does not improve and the individual seems violent, back away and the leave the area if it is safe to do so.
• Report any harassment, violent or threatening behavior immediately to your supervisor or security and call 911 if necessary.

Get free safety resources

Texas Mutual policyholders have access to thousands of free training materials in our multimedia safety resource center, including our safety catalog with up-to-date resources.

To access the free materials, log in to your texasmutual.com account and select Safety. If you need help accessing the safety resource center or you have a workplace safety question, call us toll-free at 844-WORKSAFE (967-5723).

Download a PDF (180KB) version of the March Safety Alert.