As Forbes contributor Niall McCarthy notes, one would be more likely to stereotype the worker in his/her early twenties as a riskier employee, being "over-eager and inexperienced" -- but this could not be further from the case.
According to the research, employees between the ages of 20 and 24 experience 2.1 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers, while employees over the age of 65 experience 8.8 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers.
The leading workplace fatality, according to the World Health Organization, is an accidental fall: out of the 37.3 million falls each year that require medical attention, an estimated 424,000 of these falls are fatal; what's worse is that a significant portion of these falls occur on the job, and older employees are often the victims.
Given this data, it's no wonder that personal injury lawsuits make up the majority of civil tort cases, and that these cases cost a collective $233 billion each year in the U.S. Although as many as 96% of all injury lawsuits are handled outside of the courtroom and without a trial, a plaintiffs seeking injury compensation have a wide selection of experienced personal injury lawyers who can help them win every cent of compensation that they deserve -- and many plaintiffs do receive compensation.
The obvious difficulty with fatal injuries, whether on the job or on the street, is that no amount of money will be able to fully remedy the situation. Nevertheless, workers compensation can offer substantial support for any dependents who relied on the individual financially; furthermore, a personal injury case may be able to showcase unfair workplace practices and unsafe environments that would likely cause another wrongful death on the job.
An accident such as a fall, for example, is easily preventable by increasing safety equipment and physical training for employees -- the issue is that many employers just don't want to spend the time, energy, and money on developing better prevention programs.
Filing an injury lawsuit due to a fatal accident on the job won't be able to heal the suffering of the individual's loved ones, but it might just ensure that other individuals and their families don't have to go through the same trauma.