The construction industry has inherent hazards, including heavy equipment, power tools, chemicals, and employees working from precarious heights and deep inside trenches. General contractors at construction projects have a legal duty to adhere to safety standards, properly train employees, and maintain a safe working environment to prevent injuries. Still, injuries to construction workers are all too common, resulting in more workers’ compensation claims and lawsuits than any other industry except agriculture. Unfortunately, construction accident injuries can have long-term or life-altering consequences for victims and their families. Civil courts allow construction accident victims a variety of means to recover their losses.
What Causes Construction Accidents?
Construction workers have unique skills, but their specialized work also causes them to face significant risks, particularly when those tasked with ensuring a safe work environment fail to properly address safety risks or adequately train employees. Construction accidents can occur in a variety of ways, but according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the “fatal four” top construction hazards include:
- Falls: including slip-and-fall accidents and falls from heights
- Struck-by accidents: including struck by falling objects, vehicles, and heavy equipment
- Caught in between accidents: these range from clothing caught in equipment or workers caught between large equipment and walls
- Electrocutions
Common causes of construction accidents include chemical exposures, transportation accidents, repetitive motion injuries, scaffolding accidents, crane accidents, forklift accidents, burns, trench collapses, falling objects, and defective equipment.
Following safety protocols and ensuring that employees promptly and correctly address safety hazards prevents accidents in the construction industry. When an injury occurs due to negligence, the injury victim has several options to move forward with the compensation they deserve.
What Common Injuries Can Occur?
Construction accidents range from mild and inconvenient, to injuries requiring surgeries, and rehabilitative therapies. Some construction accidents result in lifelong disabilities or even wrongful death. Common injuries in construction accident injury claims include the following:
- Back injuries
- Neck injuries
- Knee injuries
- Head injuries/traumatic brain injury
- Fractures
- Burn injuries from flames, chemical exposures, scalds, and electrocution
- Toxic exposures
- Repetitive motion injuries
- Soft tissue injuries like sprains and torn ligaments
- Eye injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Wrongful death
When a construction worker suffers injuries, they need legal guidance to determine the best way forward on their unique claim, whether it’s a workers’ compensation claim, a lawsuit against an employer, or a third-party claim against a subcontractor, property owner, or another driver in a construction-related traffic accident. The right strategy is the key to obtaining the maximum compensation available to you for your construction accident injury.
How Can an Injury Attorney Help?
After a serious work injury at a construction site, you need an experienced attorney safeguarding your rights and actively arguing for your best interests. An attorney from Cuneo & Leonetti will investigate your construction accident to determine the cause of the injury, the negligent or careless action responsible, and the best way to move forward for the optimal outcome.
Call the Cherry Hill serious injury attorneys at Cuneo & Leonetti today for the representation and resources that can quickly achieve results.