The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that roughly 3 percent of all work-related fatalities involve a fire or explosion in the workplace. But, obviously, more workers may suffer non-fatal injuries when a fire breaks out in the workplace. Injuries from fires can vary greatly, ranging from smoke inhalation to burn injuries, or trauma sustained from falling objects during a fire.
Workers injured in a workplace accident may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Similarly, injuries sustained during a workplace fire may entitle the injured worker to benefits.
A fire broke out Tuesday morning in an elevator shaft of a building under construction at San Francisco General Hospital. A spokeswoman with the San Francisco Fire Department says that workers were performing welding in the shaft before the fire erupted, although the actual cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Thankfully, fire officials say that nobody at the construction site appears to have suffered a severe injury. However, seven construction workers and a firefighter did suffer what authorities are characterizing as minor injuries from the blaze. One firefighter suffered an undisclosed injury to her arm. Seven construction workers suffered from smoke inhalation—one of the workers required treatment at a hospital.
The fire broke out on the shaft on the seventh floor of the construction project shortly after 9:30 Tuesday morning. Firefighters were able to get the fire under control within 46 minutes. Authorities say that the fire was contained in the elevator shaft and did not disrupt operations at the overall hospital. Crews shut down Potrero Avenue for a two block span while firefighters battled the blaze.
Source: KTVU, “Eight suffer minor injuries in SF General construction fire,” June 18, 2013
