Construction is the United States' largest industry. Unfortunately, construction site accidents kill and injure thousands of workers each year. Despite legal and trade provisions in place to prevent construction accidents, one out of every ten construction workers suffers some kind of on the job injury, including:
Although most injured workers will be entitled to Workers' Compensation benefits, these benefits will not cover all of the expenses faced by an injured worker and generally do not cover pain and suffering and the full range of damages available to the loved ones of a worker who is killed in an accident.
When a construction site accident occurs, responsibility for the personal injury can be attributed to a variety of individuals or businesses, including the owners, contractors and subcontractors, engineers, electricians, scaffolding companies, architects, insurance companies and manufacturers of equipment. For example, the general contractor and subcontractors must provide a reasonably safe work environment and manufacturers of construction equipment are responsible designing and maintaining safe products. In complex cases, in addition to negligence and workers' compensation, the legal principles of agency and corporate law may be necessary in determining liability.
Knowledge of federal and state regulations governing construction sites is imperative when developing theories against all of the third parties who may be responsible for a construction site accident. Any attorney you choose should be experienced in the inspection of worksites, preservation of evidence and identification and questioning of critical witnesses.
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