Construction Site Accidents: Who Is Ultimately Responsible for Worker Safety?

Most workplaces have policies that make safety everyone’s responsibility and signs advising workers to identify safety hazards. The law is more limited in its focus. When workers are killed or seriously injured while acting within the course and scope of their employment, injured workers should be compensated for their injuries.

A note on workers’ compensation

Employers in all 50 states are required to cover employees under their workers’ compensation insurance policies, which provide benefits to the employee in the event they are injured on the job. Such benefits include compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and benefits payable in the event of death. This labor-related law was designed to prove to be an economically viable alternative to costly litigation between employees and employers. As a result, workers’ compensation coverage generally excludes civil litigation arising from workplace accidents.

Workers covered by workers’ compensation are generally not eligible to sue for injuries sustained in workplace accidents. However, the construction industry commonly uses workers who are not fully documented, as well as subcontractors for many tasks. Independent contractors are not covered by workers’ compensation statutes, which makes them eligible to file negligence claims.

Types of Construction Accidents

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 4,069 Americans died on the job in 2011. Of these, 17.5 percent involved construction accidents. Falls comprised 35 percent of construction accidents, while blunt force injuries, electrocution, and crush injuries comprised 10, 9, and 3 percent, respectively. In other words, most construction accidents involve a mixture of workers making mistakes and mistakes in supervision.

However, not all accidents involve workplace negligence. Crane accidents and structural failures can occur if materials do not meet advertised specifications. Bolts that are too hard or too soft can have greatly reduced shear strength, improperly treated steel can rust quickly, and poorly prefabricated materials can have poor welding and substandard materials.

Negligence

Whether the accident occurs as a result of on-site negligence or a poor supply of materials or equipment, businesses must be prepared to deal with the consequences. If someone is killed or seriously injured while on site and that person is not covered by workers’ compensation insurance, many parties are likely to be named defendants in a negligence lawsuit. Neglect is an evil that involves conduct that does not meet the appropriate standard of care.

Who is theoretically liable for a construction-related injury depends on the nature and cause of the injury.

Fault

If the incident occurs as a result of a worker not controlling a blind spot or performing work to a satisfactory level, the worker will be liable for damages and their employer will be vicariously liable; the employer will also be liable for his own negligence in failing to train or supervise the employee. If a defective item caused the incident, the manufacturer will be responsible for the manufacturing, design, or marketing defect. If the defect was something that a reasonable reseller or installer would have noticed, the dealer or installer may also be liable for negligence for failing to notice the defect.

Whether the incident involves a major crane collapse or structural failure or a forklift injuring a worker’s foot, the path to recovery is the same. In practice, construction accidents often involve failure at multiple levels. Poorly trained employees, poor supervision, and in some cases, poor equipment can combine to create unnecessary tragedy in the workplace. By identifying which party is responsible for the injury, the law seeks to identify the party that failed to meet industry standards and acted unreasonably.

Wanting to help any injured worker understand their rights, Ann Bailey publishes this investigation into construction accident liability. The attorneys found through http://www.construction-accident-attorney.net will be able to guide and instruct a client through the injury claim process and help identify which parties may be liable for compensation for the injury. accident victim.