Construction work is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. This year more than 1,000 workers will be fatally injured, and 150,000 more will suffer injury through construction site accidents. The causes are many and varied, but the loss of income and future earning potential, as well as the physical and emotional impact upon the entire family of an injured construction worker can be devastating. In spite of regulations, safety codes and frequent inspections, the nature of the job and the abundance of onsite hazards combine to create an environment in which life-changing accidents and injuries are much too frequent.
While falling from heights such as scaffolding, platforms or ladders is the most commonly presented construction site injury, mishaps are also caused by mishandling or malfunction of cranes, forklifts and a myriad of other potentially dangerous, heavy equipment. Electrocution, compressed gases and exposure to asbestos and similarly toxic chemicals are other forms of construction injury that can have long term consequences. Then there are those situations in which repeated heavy lifting or overuse of a single muscle group can cause severe pain and inability to work.
Falling objects and on site debris are also contributors to workplace injuries. Even work-related auto injuries fall into this category. Construction-related accidents can occur at any designated workplace. Whether welding indoors or logging outdoors, standing in an assembly line or climbing in the rafters, a construction site injury can be permanently disabling. It may be a private homeowner’s back yard or a giant commercial building project. Unique building environments present their own hazards and may actually increase the potential for accidents and injury.
Regardless the cause, getting fair and equitable payment for damages incurred in a construction accident can be frustrating and insufficient. Because tradesmen are generally highly paid with good benefits, being forced to leave this career due to injury can make it extremely difficult to find equally high paying work. Also, health injuries often preclude finding lighter work in a field that is known for its demanding physical requirements.
Your personal injury lawyer should be experienced and knowledgeable in construction site accidents. The validity of your claim will be assessed and a work-site investigation will be conducted, the sooner the better. Your assigned attorney will also clarify who is liable. This could be a construction site engineer, contractor, sub-contractor, prime contractor, the project architect or engineer, the manufacturer of a faulty piece of machinery or equipment, the company insurers or any combination of the above-mentioned.
Once all the pertinent information is collected, your attorney will represent your interests as your case proceeds through the legal system. Payment is never expected until filed claims are settled. Your attorney will be able to choose a claim amount that looks forward to your future and that of your family, especially if you are unable to return to work. Your anticipated medical expenses and rehabilitation care will be included. Damages for pain and suffering may also be part of the package.
No one wants to anticipate losing work and income from a construction accident or injury, but when the inevitable does happen and negligence or faulty equipment is responsible, a personal injury attorney can make sure that you and your family are protected and compensated. If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident contact our office today for a free consultation.
Construction Accident News
Many Propose Ways to Make Construction Sites Safer
By Charles V. Bagli and Annie Correal
New York Times
Proposals for improving safety at construction sites in New York City after a rash of fatal accidents stacked up like high-rise scaffolding at a City Council hearing on Tuesday.
There were 12 separate bills proposing a variety of measures: requiring contractors to hire independent monitors; registering builders; establishing a hot line to report unsafe working conditions; and denying permits to developers who habitually flout the rules. But there was little agreement on which of those measures would actually prevent accidents and which would only enlarge an already overburdened bureaucracy.
The city’s real estate industry and construction unions proposed a more wholesale solution: replacing the city’s beleaguered Department of Buildings altogether with a new public corporation that advocates said would act more decisively and provide greater flexibility, while recruiting and training qualified professionals.
“The Buildings Department is collapsing under the weight of its own reform,” said Louis J. Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, who advocates the new corporation.
The Bloomberg administration had set a priority on reforming the department, which has long had a reputation for incompetence and corruption. Despite widely acknowledged improvements in recent years, the city’s buildings commissioner, Patricia J. Lancaster, resigned last month under pressure from City Hall. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was particularly incensed after the March 15 collapse of a tower crane on East 51st Street that killed seven people.
In an interview after the hearing, Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, the powerful lobbying arm of the city’s biggest developers, said that scrapping the Buildings Department and creating a new public corporation to oversee construction would “do more to protect the safety of the public, as well as construction workers, than most of the 12 bills submitted at the Council.”
Indeed, the real estate and construction industry vehemently opposed legislation proposed by Councilwoman Jessica Lappin, whose district includes the site of the crane collapse, that would give the Buildings Department the power to appoint independent safety monitors — at the property owners’ expense — at construction sites where there is a history of serious safety violations.
Mr. Coletti said that the proposal would not ensure safety, since there is already at least one — if not two — site safety coordinators at every building site. He also testified against a bill that would require the licensing or registration of all general contractors operating in the city.
But the acting buildings commissioner, Robert LiMandri, endorsed the Lappin bill, saying independent monitors would be “a meaningful additional tool to improve safety at problematic sites,” and would reduce the strain on the city’s 400 building inspectors who are struggling to keep up with the building boom.
Mr. LiMandri said that while he did not favor regulating large commercial builders, he was working on a proposal for additional regulation of demolition and concrete contractors.
The Bloomberg administration has been working on its own legislative package in recent weeks, but has run into fierce opposition from the construction industry over its plan to license those kind of contractors and require background checks. The industry contends that those measures would have no impact on safety, but could eliminate three or four of the five concrete suppliers in the city.
Mr. LiMandri said that a “whistleblower’s hot line” proposed by Councilwoman Letitia James of Brooklyn was unnecessary because the city already has a 311 information line. But Ms. James said that nonunion and immigrant workers did not use the 311 line because it did not guarantee them anonymity, and they feared for their jobs.
Most construction fatalities in New York City occur at sites that employ nonunion workers, according to a report by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Bloomberg administration has stirred up a controversy by proposing to eliminate a requirement that the buildings commissioner be either a licensed architect or engineer, arguing that a good manager is more important. Architects, engineers and many in the construction industry say that an extensive understanding of how structures are built is critical to the job.
“We see no basis for removing the requirements,” said Richard T. Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress. “It’s a logical requirement to have someone who is technically qualified and conversant with the building processes.”
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