Crow Law Offices - Sacramento Personal Injuiry Attorneys - Established 1954
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Construction Site Accident Attorneys

CONCTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENT AND INJURIES - THESE CLAIMS REQUIRE EXPERIENCED LEGAL COUNSEL

Regarding Construction Site Accident and Injury

One of the most dangerous occupations in the country is working at a construction site. More than seven million United States citizens work in construction or construction-related jobs. Hundreds of thousands of workers are injured and even killed in construction site accidents each year. Unfortunately, in spite of the increased level of danger, many construction companies do not put as strong of an emphasis on safety as they should, instead placing profits ahead of safety. Often, these injured persons are members of unions. The Crow Law Offices have been representing union members since 1954.

The employer owes a safe work environment for its workers, and is obligated to take reasonable measures to ensure safety. It is the responsibility of the construction companies to thoroughly inspect each site with safety engineers and provide safety programs for employees. When these measures are not implemented or fail to protect construction workers, the owners, architects, insurance companies, and equipment manufacturers can be legally responsible. This means that multiple parties have a legal obligation to provide workers and employees with a safe construction site and make them aware of any hazards on the premises or on the job being performed.

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Filing a Claim for a Construction Site Accident

Although an employee cannot generally sue his or her employer, a suit can be brought against a responsible third party. A Third party can be manufacturers, subcontractors and even the general contractor, all of whom may be responsible for your injuries and damages.

If you believe that someone other than your employer or a co-employee was responsible for your injury, you may have a legitimate personal injury claim against the third party with a Sacramento construction site accident lawyer. If you or a loved one have suffered a serious construction site accident injury in Sacramento, please contact a skilled construction site accident attorney at the Crow Law Offices. The Sacramento construction accident attorneys from the Crow Law Offices have represented injured construction workers since 1954, and know what it takes to bring these cases to a successful conclusion.

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The Role of OSHA in Construction Site Accidents

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal regulatory organization that mandates all safety rules and investigates all construction accidents in the country. Every construction worker has protection from OSHA. Its regulations apply to every worker on all types of construction sites.

Immediately following a construction accident, an OSHA representative will come to the scene of the accident to conduct an investigation. Upon completion of the investigation, OSHA will file a report with their findings. Unfortunately OSHA will not make a negligent company pay for an injured or deceased worker. In fact, OSHA does fine negligent companies, but the fines are fairly minor and insignificant.

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Types of Accidents That Can Occur Onsite

Construction site injuries can take place in a variety of different ways, including:

  • falls from heights. These often result when the work site is unstable or when fall protection equipment is misused. Many of the deaths and injuries from falls can be prevented when the proper precautions are made
  • falls through holes
  • scaffolding accidents. Scaffolding is negligently constructed causing the scaffolding to collapse
  • failed structures
  • accidents involving heavy equipment or machinery
  • Crane Accidents
  • Compressed Gases Hazards
  • Mechanical Hazards
  • Dangerous and Defective Machines. Serious injuries result from moving machine parts when safeguards meant to protect workers are not implemented. Unfortunately, several things can go wrong with equipment, including a defect that leads to an accident or user error that causes injuries.
  • Motor vehicle crashes
  • Carbon monoxide poisoning. Those who are responsible for construction sites must take steps to ensure that those who are working on the site are not exposed to toxins and the like, as this form of exposure can lead to the development of serious, permanent or even life-threatening diseases that the worker or workers were completely unaware of at the time. One of the most overlooked legal issues surrounding construction site accidents involves exposure to toxic substances
  • Forklift injuries
  • Electrocution
  • Falling Materials/equipment
  • Fires and explosions
  • Structure failure
  • Supervisor negligence and/or contractors that hire inexperienced and unsafe workers
  • Employees not properly trained
  • Safety regulations not being followed
  • Failure to warn: Failing to properly warn pedestrians or visitors of potential hazards, such as holes, falling debris, hidden or hard to see obstacles, or unsafe floors

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Common Injuries from Construction Site Accidents

Construction is one of the most hazardous industries and is frequently associated with accidents resulting in serious injuries and fatalities. Safety regulations are often overlooked or under prioritized, resulting in preventable accidents that cause serious injuries or death. Construction site injuries often times change the quality of life for you and your loved ones. Injuries due to construction site accidents are frequently severe, resulting in crushed or amputated limbs, paralysis and spinal cord injuries, burns, head trauma, severe burns, vision loss or hearing damage, back and neck injuries, loss of mobility, severed nerves, broken/fractured bones and wrongful death. Construction site injuries cause more than 1,000 fatalities per year. Most of these fatalities happen as a direct result of safety violations.

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Financial Damages in Construction Site Cases

Contractors, architects, manufacturers and property owners, and others responsible for your injuries, may be held liable outside of the limited rights available under workers' compensation laws for personal injuries or wrongful deaths.

If you have been injured in a construction accident, your rights depend upon whether you were a bystander or a worker at the site. When you are injured as a bystander, normal personal injury law applies and the person or entity at fault is responsible for your injuries and damages.

There are circumstances under which a worker can pursue both a workers' compensation claim and a case for damages against a liable party other than the employer. This is known as a third-party case. An advantage of third-party claims is that they can result in substantially greater compensation than what an injured worker receives through workers' compensation. Most construction workers know that if they are injured on the job, they have the right to file a claim for workers' compensation benefits. This allows workers who are injured on the job or suffer an occupational disease arising out of the course and scope of employment, to receive compensation regardless of who was at fault. Even if an employee is partially or totally at fault for his or her own injury, the employee is still entitled to workers' compensation benefits. However, workers' compensation often does not provide enough benefits for the damages suffered by the worker. Third parties may be liable for any negligence that results in injuries to a worker, as long as the worker is not their employee. However, the burden of these cases is that the negligence of the third party must be proven. Fortunately for workers, California allows the injured worker to pursue a third-party claim even if the worker or his employer was partially at fault.

Construction accidents can cause injuries that may require extensive rehabilitation and medical treatment. These injuries can severely limit your ability to lead a normal life. The Sacramento construction site injury attorneys at The Crow Law Offices can help you receive the maximum monetary settlement for past, present and future medical expenses, mental distress, earnings capacity losses, loss of life enjoyment, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, and wage loss suffered as a result of another’s negligence. We seek damages above and beyond Worker's Compensation, as the law allows, ensuring that the victim's current and future needs are fully met.

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Hiring an Attorney to Handle Your Legal Claim

Because construction site injury cases are complex, you will need an experienced Sacramento construction site accident attorney from the Crow Law Offices to successfully handle them. In order to recover damages in a construction site accident, you must prove that a third party was negligent in causing your injuries. The help of a Sacramento construction site accident lawyer is therefore critical to be fairly compensated.

Obtaining compensation to account for medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering and other forms of loss can be extremely difficult. Rather than attempting to handle this situation by yourself seek the help of our Sacramento construction site accident attorneys. Simply due to the complex nature of this area of law, you will need the help of an experienced law firm to receive fair compensation for your injury. At the Crow Law Offices, our Sacramento construction site accident attorneys will determine who is responsible for your injuries and help you secure needed compensation for your injuries.

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Proving Your Case

By their very nature, construction sites constantly change as construction progresses. Evidence vital to a third-party claim can quickly be changed or destroyed. Because of the complexity of these cases, handling construction accidents requires knowledge, resources, and competence.

It is not always easy to determine who is responsible for a construction site accident. A construction project typically involves many different companies, people, and products. Property owners, general contractors, subcontractors, architects and engineers all bear a certain amount of responsibility for providing a safe working environment at a construction site. Equipment manufacturers and suppliers also have a duty to supply safe equipment and materials.

Work sites rarely stay still for long. It is not uncommon for a worker to be killed by a piece of machinery only to have that same machinery back in the service a few days later. In an environment that changes so rapidly, it is crucial for an attorney to be brought into the equation as soon as possible, so that the attorney can secure the site in order to preserve the evidence necessary to win. A Sacramento construction site injury attorney will also retain the necessary expert witnesses-both medical and construction industry experts-to demonstrate both the cause of the accident and the nature and extent of the employees injuries.

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