Dangers of Utility Work Accidents in Road Construction

Chicago area road construction workers face high risk of job injury in Rebuild Illinois utility projects

The historic infrastructure improvements underway throughout the State of Illinois with Project Rebuild Illinois offer unprecedented opportunities for construction trades to improve expertise, not to mention a lot more jobs for construction workers as a whole. Rebuilding, repairing, renovating, constructing, and maintaining roads, streets, bridges, tunnels, highways, and interstates throughout the area, especially in Chicagoland, means road work zones will be a part of our daily lives for several years. For more, read Chicago Road Construction Dangers: National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 21-25.

Sunny industrial forecasts predict construction companies, not just in the Land of Lincoln but throughout the nation, will need to find more and more people to work in all types of construction jobs. The labor demand is great. There is an estimated need for almost a half million new construction workers in 2025, and another half-million in 2026 according to Associated Builders and Contractors.

And with this need comes a concern, not only with safety agencies and advocates for worker victims and their families, but industrial insiders, that all this influx of new employees into construction worksites comes with a risk of danger involving a lack of expertise and experience required for skilled workers – especially those tasked with utility work.

Electricity, gas, sewer, telecommunications, and water lines are all webbed within our state’s infrastructure. Working with each of these utilities comes with its own special hazards and risks.

Road Construction: Utility Work

Construction workers involved in utility work must be respected for their vital contributions to our everyday lives. Their jobs are key to our communities. Consider how fast things ground to a halt in Europe this week when there was a failure in electrical utilities in France, Portugal, and Spain. Read, “What Caused Spain and Portugal’s Massive Power Outage?” published by the Institute for Energy Research on April 29, 2025.

Utility work is not only essential, it is dangerous. Every day, construction workers involved in any task concerning utilities face countless hazards that may cause serious bodily harm or death. Accordingly, there are a huge amount of laws, regulations, and industrial safety standards on the books focused upon protecting these workers and keeping them safe.

Given the size and variety of road infrastructure projects detailed by the Illinois Department of Transportation in Project Rebuild Illinois, it is easy to understand the need for safety and care protections for those involved in utility work like:

• coordinating with various companies with possession, custody, or control of various utilities to make sure there is compliance with local, state, and federal regulations regarding that particular line, such as IDOT’s Utility Coordination protocols;
• locating existing utilities before construction begins with plats, maps, and technology like radar;
• installing new utilities necessary for the renovation, repair, or expanded need of the site;
• relocating utilities as required by designs provided by architects or engineers, either temporarily or permanently;
• trenching to open up placement for utility lines;
• backfilling to close up trenches after lines have been installed; and
• repairing road surfaces after utility work is finished to make sure it is long-lasting.

Utility Construction Work: Critical, Complex, and Dangerous

The hazards that utility workers face on any road work construction zone are not mysteries to those with the responsibility of protecting them from being hurt on the job. Common dangers that construction utility projects involve include:

• burns in explosions or fires (chemicals needed for the job; live wires; gas pipes; hazardous materials);
• crushing injuries in collapse (trench failures, pipeline failures);
• electrocution or electrical shock injuries (think utility strikes);
• falls at floor level (slip and fall; trip and fall);
• falls from heights (injuries while working on cranes; ladders; scaffolds; or with climbing gear); and
• struck-by injuries from falling objects or motor vehicles (falling debris, tools, equipment, traffic, work trucks, etc.).

For more on the dangers of work injuries here, read: Explosions and Fires on Construction Sites in Illinois or Indiana; Asphalt Dangers to Workers in Chicago Area Road Work Zones; Struck By or Caught-In-Between Accidents in Road Work Zones: Chicago Construction Dangers; Trenching Dangers in Chicago Road Work Construction Projects: Rebuild Illinois in Chicagoland; and Electricity Accident Dangers for Road Work Construction Workers in Chicagoland.

Safety Regulations for Utility Workers on Road Construction Work Zones

All construction workers asked to perform any task involving utilities in a road construction project should be aware of the enormous number of legal protections in place to keep them safe from these well-known risks. They also should know that all too often, these protections are disregarded or disrespected by those legally required to provide them.

From providing sufficient training before work begins; to keeping up housekeeping duties on the site; having proper personal protective equipment (PPE) for the workers; insuring the site is in compliance with safety requirements that include warning signs and warning labels; and monitoring the site on a daily or hourly basis for dangers (including weather conditions), employers and other companies and individuals are supposed to prioritize utility worker safety at all times.

For instance, federal regulations working in tandem with Illinois State OSHA include the following:

1. Electrical: General Requirements (1910.303); Wiring (1910.305); and Electric Power (1910.269);
2. Falls: Protection (1926.501); Ladders in construction (1926.1053); Fall protection training, construction (1926.503);
3. Hazard Communication: (1910.1200); and
4. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147).

Sadly, the fact that these protections exist does not mean that the worker is safe. Consider this: in 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) confirmed that out of its ten most frequently violated safety regulations, fall protection was the most often cited; followed by hazard communication (2nd); lockout/tagout (3rd); ladders, construction (4^th); fall protection training, construction (7^th); scaffolding, construction (8^th); and eye and face protection (9^th).

Utility workers have an exceptionally high risk of being hurt or killed in an on-the-job accident. OSHA confirms that for many of these construction workers, safety has taken a back seat to profits on their job site.

Utility Worker Accidents on Road Construction Work Zones: Claims for Damages

For any construction worker in the greater Chicago metro area, or elsewhere in Illinois, there are laws that provide avenues for justice in the aftermath of an on-the-job accident involving utility work. First of all, Illinois workers’ compensation statutes will give immediate help to the worker victim through insurance coverage paid for and provided by the employer.

And, after an investigation into the accident, the worker may find that there are also third party personal injury claims to be filed in civil court for damages that will cover many things not provided for under the workers’ compensation insurance policy. For details, read:  10 Types of Workers Compensation Benefits After a Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana and 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims.

Utility work on a road work zone demands skilled workers be provided with reasonable and prudent safety measures on the work site. These construction jobs come with serious dangers from things specific to the utilities themselves, from burns or falls to crushing fatalities in trench failures. None of these risks are mysteries to the construction companies and others who are involved in profiting from the infrastructure project.

If someone is hurt while working on or near any kind of utility on a road work construction zone, such as those that proliferate here in Chicagoland, then they have a right to pursue monetary claims for damages that cover things like medical expenses; pain and suffering; rehabilitation; therapy; and more. These claims must be filed before a legal deadline is passed, or they will be barred by law no matter how meritorious.

For more, read:

• Deadlines for Injury Victims to File Lawsuits: Statutes of Limitations
• Protecting Workers in Chicago Road Work Construction Zones: Traffic Safety
• Task List for Chicago Road Construction Accident Victims Seeking Justice for Work Injuries
• Engineers, Architects: Professional Liability for a Road Construction Work Zone Accident
• Workers Face Great Danger from Illinois Highway Road Work Construction Accidents.

Utility work in road construction is notoriously hazardous. Sadly, and all too often, established safety and care duties are not respected on the jobsite by those with the responsibility to keep people protected while at work, and construction workers are severely hurt or killed. Please be careful out there!