Despite substantial improvements in construction site safety, workers, visitors, and passers-by continue to suffer serious injuries from construction site mishaps. Accidents and injuries can occur at any construction site, whether in Westchester County or elsewhere in New York State and throughout the country.
Individuals who are injured in construction site accidents in White Plains, Yonkers, or elsewhere should immediately contact a Westchester County personal injury lawyer. For experienced representation in lawsuits to recover damages for their injuries, they should contact a Westchester construction accident lawyer at Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb & Green.
We have helped injured construction workers and others for more than 50 years. Our lawyers have helped recover the largest available compensation they deserve when someone else’s negligence at a construction site has caused their injuries.
Types of Construction Accidents an Attorney Can Help With
The types of accidents at a construction site are almost as varied as the variety of construction projects themselves.
The more common accidents include the following:
- Employees or site visitors being struck by construction materials or tools that fall from high elevations
- Electrocutions from poorly-grounded or loose electrical wiring
- Injuries from collisions with construction vehicles, including cranes that collapse if they are not stabilized correctly
- Crushed limbs caused by unsecured equipment or heavy materials
- Asphyxiation from collapsed construction pits
- Lung damage from inhalation of toxic fumes
- Burns from chemicals or hot surfaces
- Falling from scaffolds, ladders, or other elevated surfaces
- Serious lacerations from sharp surfaces or edges
- Trip and fall injuries due to known but unremedied construction site hazards
- Injuries caused by poorly-maintained power tools or by misuse of those tools by untrained personnel.
Retaining a skilled construction accident lawyer soon after the accident will give them a better opportunity to investigate the cause. They can also secure the evidence needed to assign liability to negligent parties and recover damages from them.
Construction sites are dynamic places, and the evidence you need to prove your personal injury lawsuit can be lost quickly after the accident. That evidence might include, for example, the tool or object that fell from an elevated location, witnesses’ memories of how the accident happened, and conditions in the construction site where the accident occurred.
Further, you might initially believe that your injuries are minor. Regardless, you should always go for a medical examination to establish a baseline for the injuries that you sustained. If you delay seeking medical treatment, the negligent party that caused the accident can argue that your injuries are due to an event after the accident. They can also claim that you are responsible for the exacerbation of your injuries because you delayed seeking treatment.
When you retain an attorney to help you recover compensation, they will need to show that one or more parties at the construction site were negligent and that negligence was the direct and proximate cause of your accident. Further, they will also need to show you suffered injuries and monetary damages due to those injuries.
Injured construction workers should contact a Westchester Construction Accident Lawyer
Construction workers should understand that their rights to recover damages may not be limited to their workers’ compensation benefits. In most cases, those benefits will only cover a portion of an injured worker’s actual medical bills and lost wages. However, if the injury was caused by the negligence of another party, (not including the employer) the worker could file a personal injury lawsuit. They can seek reimbursement for future medical expenses, therapy costs, and damages for pain and suffering.
In some limited situations, they might also be able to sue their employer for damages beyond any workers’ compensation recovery. Injured workers should always consult with a construction accident attorney in Westchester County to understand their full rights.
New York state has specific laws for scaffold accidents at construction sites.
New York State has enacted a unique law that imposes liability on owners and general contractors for construction site accidents involving scaffolds. The State’s Industrial Code and labor laws further obligate site managers to exercise strict control over how scaffolds are erected and what safety systems must be employed in their use. A site manager or general contractor that violates these laws may be liable for all injuries.
Construction site accidents are not limited to employees
Site visitors and other parties passing by or through a construction zone may also be at risk for injuries. Negligently secured tools or construction materials might be dropped from heights and strike a passing pedestrian. Pathways around construction can be cluttered with debris that can cause a serious trip-and-fall accident.
The most crucial step that any injured party can take is to contact a construction accident lawyer as soon as possible after the accident. New York State gives an injured party three years to file a personal injury negligence lawsuit. However, an injured party’s ability to recover damages will always be a function of the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident. Construction sites are very dynamic places. Details of an accident are best obtained soon after it has happened.
Call us to recover maximum damages in a construction accident lawsuit
Please call the personal injury attorneys at New York’s Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb & Green, P. C. after you have sustained serious injuries in a Westchester County construction accident. This will give you the best opportunity to have the evidence in your case analyzed while it is still fresh.
If you retain our firm and we accept your case, we will provide a fair and confidential evaluation of your ability to collect damages from the negligent construction site party. We will also estimate the range of damages that you might be entitled to recover. Schedule a free consultation today.
