| Work Site Injuries: Know Your Rights
What happens if you are injured on the job? Who is responsible for your medical bills, your lost wages, your pain and suffering, loss of the ability to return to work, or, in the most severe case, loss of life? At Bochetto & Lentz, have tried to make the answer simple.
Each year thousands of construction workers are injured or killed in construction site accidents. The limitations most employees find in trying to hold their employer accountable for work-related injuries do not apply if the employee can pursue someone other than his or her employer for compensation. Sometimes work-related injuries aren't due to the conduct of the employer, but are instead due, in whole or in part, to a defective product or machinery, or due to the negligence of a contractor who was working on the site, or possibly because of the negligence of some other entity. Usually, this means that there is a viable tort claim that can be brought without regard to the obstacles presented by the Worker's Compensation system.
In some cases, if an accident occurs because of the worker’s negligence, the injured can still receive compensation in most states through Workers Compensation. When a construction site accident occurs, the owners, architects, and manufacturers of equipment can be held responsible for inadequate safety provisions. The general contractor and all subcontractors are required to provide a reasonably safe site, to warn of hazards inherent in the site and work, to hire qualified employees, to conduct job safety training, and to supervise compliance within safety guidelines.
Manufacturers of construction equipment are responsible for designing and maintaining safe products. Defective or dangerous products may include the following: scaffolding, cranes, power tools, derricks, hoists, conveyors, woodworking tools, ladders, winches, trucks, graters, scrapers, tractors, bulldozers, forklifts, back hoes, heavy equipment, boilers, pressure vessels, gas detectors, and other types of construction equipment.
Therefore, it is often possible to find liable third parties in the event of a construction related injury. This often important because Worker’s Compensation benefits do not provide compensation for the pain and suffering that a person endures as a result of an accident.
Please use the form below to contact us regarding any Construction Site Injuries questions you may have.
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