According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 150,000 employees are hurt on a construction site in a year. While falls account for the majority of construction site injuries, direct contact with equipment is also a significant cause of employees' injuries.
Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guarantees safe and healthy working conditions for employees by setting and enforcing standards, the reality is that accidents are going to happen. That's why it is essential to have a skilled construction site injury attorney you depend on represent you in the circumstances that an accident does occur.
As a safe and responsible construction worker, it is vital to understand your worksite's dangers. You can take the right safety precautions, put in place by OSHA, use the appropriate safety equipment, and never take unnecessary risks that fail to comply with worksite safety protocols. However, the truth is that you can still suffer a serious injury while on a construction site, even if you believed you did everything right.
Despite the fact that, by nature, construction sites are dangerous places to work, that doesn't mean your manager does not have the responsibility to keep you and your co-workers safe. And it also does not mean that you lose your right to justice if you suffer an injury.
Construction lawyers help a wide variety of clients–from large construction companies to individual workers of those companies, to property owners, all the way to sureties. In fact, anyone who is involved in the building process might find themselves in need of a construction attorney at some point in their life.
However, at The Cochran Firm, they believe in representing the victims of construction site accidents to ensure they receive compensation for their pain and suffering. Many complex liability issues come with construction accident lawsuits, so it is vital to consult a lawyer who has experience in handling third-party injury claims. Our lawyers have not only have the experience, but the tenacious attitudes it takes to go up against any insurance company who tries to deny their clients the compensation they are owed.
If you find yourself injured on a construction site, you may be able to pursue one or more of the following types of claims:
OSHA was created to ensure safe working conditions for employees across the nation. Under OSHA, workers throughout the country have the right to:
An experienced construction site lawyer can help workers who have been injured on the job that believe their workplace was dangerous (and did not follow OSHA regulations) file a complaint with OSHA. Once a worker files a complaint, they cannot be fired, demoted, or retaliated against by their employer.
Construction accidents are bound to happen and can occur for many different reasons. OSHA requires employers to acquire specific permits, administer regular inspections, and implement job safety programs to reduce the number of worksite accidents. However, negligence, failure to follow safety precautions, and defective products can all result in construction site accidents that are unavoidable. Some of the most common construction site accidents include:
The seriousness of falling object accident injuries depends on the size and weight of the object that has fallen, the height from which it fell, whether it was slowed by other objects, and whether or not the employee that was injured was wearing the proper protective gear. A few reasons an employee can be struck by an object include:
Some of the most commonly sustained injuries in construction site accidents involving falling objects include:
Employees working on construction sites are almost always exposed to many different slip and fall hazards. Whether they are working on the ground or on scaffolding that is a may stories high, slip and fall accidents happen more often than they should. Some of the most common slip and fall danger factors at construction sites consist of:
Within the construction industry, there are two types of slip and fall accidents that employees can suffer from:
Some examples of injuries that construction employees may suffer after a slip and fall accident include:
Getting caught between objects, or equipment, is one of the most common causes of death among construction workers. These accidents happen when an employee is crushed, squeezed, caught, pinched, or compressed between two objects, parts of two objects, or buried by objects (like a building that has collapsed or in a trench).
Construction site workers can become seriously injured or even killed when caught between objects or equipment in many ways. Some common ways these caught-between accidents happen include:
Caught-between accidents can cause severe injuries. These injuries may include:
From underground gas lines to interim heating devices to electrical systems, construction sites are full of risks that can turn a day's routine work to explosive in seconds. It only takes one spark or a spec of dust to set off a construction site fire or explosion that can injure or take the life of multiple workers. Some of the most common causes of these accidents include:
Fires and explosions can cause minor to severe injuries. However, the most common injuries are burns and can either be first-degree, second-degree, or third-degree burns. In the case the accident causes great damage, it can result in numerous casualties.
Electrical accidents can lead to serious internal and external damage and can unfold in a variety of ways. Construction sites are full of danger, and electric currents are just one of them. Even when workers take proper precautions, they can still suffer from electrocution. A few of the leading causes of electrocution include:
Unfortunately, electrical currents cause grave damage. While external injuries may be obvious directly following the incident, internal injuries can be life-threatening and should be treated as soon as possible. Injuries that a construction site worker may suffer will depend on many different factors, such as the voltage, their general health, how long they were exposed, and how much current flows through the body. When a worker suffers an electric accident, they can suffer from a variety of injuries, including:
Construction sites are full of heavy machinery, and when equipment of that size is defective, it can cause disaster. Whether the equipment was initially manufactured with flaws or it was not well kept, it can still cause serious injury. Some examples of defective equipment that can be especially dangerous on constructions sites are:
When these types of tools and equipment malfunction, they can lead to serious injuries to the individual operating them as well as other workers nearby. Some common injuries that workers may face because of defective equipment include:
If you do not see the accident that you have suffered from above, below you will find some other construction site accidents:
The unfortunate reality is that the lax commitment to safety and training standards, along with the increasing demand for faster networks, has led to severely dangerous conditions for many construction workers.
The truth is that construction site jobs are very dangerous regardless of the precautions you take. Whether it is faulty equipment, the negligent act of others, or a freak accident, you deserve to get the help you need from a lawyer you can depend on. If you or a loved one becomes injured due to a construction accident:
Many companies have workers’ compensation insurance. If this is the case for your employer, they most likely are given immunity from personal injury lawsuits. However, workers’ compensation does not restrict lawsuits against employers if the injury was intentional or odious, but it is more common to file a claim against a third party. Those third parties include:
As many of us may know, construction accidents can result in serious physical, financial, and mental pain for victims and their loved ones. Large medical bills, dealing with a severe injury, and permanent injuries can have a significant impact on and even change a person’s quality of life. By taking legal action against the negligent party that caused your injury, a lawyer can help you recover:
