As a Pennsylvania construction worker, you must perform many of your tasks while balanced on a ladder, a scaffold or a sloping roof. Despite whatever safety equipment you use, this puts you at substantial risk for falling. And a fall, in turn, puts you at substantial risk for sustaining a traumatic brain injury that could change the course of your life or even kill you. Per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, falls account for the majority of construction worker deaths.
The Mayo Clinic explains that your brain can become dysfunctional from receiving a TBI. Why? Because when you fall and hit your head on the ground or other hard surface, the impact snaps your head and neck so abruptly that it forces your brain to violently move back and forth inside your skull, thereby seriously injuring it.
Multiple and varied symptoms
No two TBIs are exactly the same, so you may or may not exhibit immediate symptoms or realize the seriousness of your injury. You, therefore, need to get immediate medical attention any time you suffer a head injury, no matter how insignificant you think it is. Only a trained head trauma health care professional can assess the extent of your injury and begin immediate treatment if you, in fact, did receive a TBI.
Even if your physician initially clears you for TBI, you should still remain vigilant during the next month for the onset of any of the following TBI symptoms:
- Your inability to properly walk
- Your inability to properly speak
- Your inability to properly see
- Your inability to properly hear
- Your inability to properly think
- Your inability to properly control your emotions
Unfortunately, a serious TBI can disable you for life, making it impossible for you to work and earn a living. This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
