Injured construction workers often face very severe injuries. From electrocution to falls from heights to traumatic amputation from power tools and construction equipment, victims could face long-term or lifelong disabilities from their accidents.
Often, the compensation that these injuries need is far more than what your Workers’ Compensation insurance is willing to pay and more than your employer thinks is reasonable. To get full compensation, you will often have to work with a lawyer who can represent you in claims against the at-fault parties.
Call Legal Care New Jersey today at (732) 838-9769 for a free case review with our construction accident lawyers.
Common Types of Construction Accidents in Clifton, NJ
Victims of construction accidents can face injuries stemming from different types of problems. Construction sites are filled with dangers, and it is usually beyond any reasonable construction worker’s ability to stay on guard every day to protect oneself from injury. Instead, the burden is usually on others to prevent accidents that could injure you. When they fail to uphold these duties, you could be entitled to sue them or other at-fault parties to get compensation.
Our construction accident lawyers represent victims involved in all of the following construction accidents, as well as others not listed here:
Electrocution Injuries
Electrocution is one of the most common work injuries across all industries. Electrocution injuries on a construction site can happen from digging too deep into an unmarked wire, cutting through a wall into a live wire, or working near electrical wires you were told were cold. In many cases, electricians and other contractors could be responsible for those injuries, as could property owners who failed to notify you about dangers they reasonably should have known about.
Transportation and Vehicle Accidents
Construction vehicles and the trucks and other vehicles used to transport materials and workers around construction sites can often be dangerous. The workers trained to use equipment like forklifts, backhoes, and especially cranes should be skilled at what they do, and they should never show up to work too tired or intoxicated to do their job safely. Many times, negligent training or even negligent hiring can be the cause of these accidents, and you can often sue contractors and other companies for negligence. You can also sue manufacturers for defects with their vehicles that allowed you to be injured.
Power Tool and Machinery Injuries
Injuries from saws, drills, augers, jackhammers, lathes, hydraulic presses, and other power tools and machinery can be especially dangerous. If you were hurt because of improper training, you might have a case against your employer, but certain rules might block you from pursuing that claim. Instead, you might consider suing the manufacturer of the equipment responsible for your injury if there was a safety defect or manufacturing error that led to the injury.
Falls
Whether falling off a ladder, a piece of scaffolding, a structure with missing walls, a cherry-picker/lift, or some other high place, you could be seriously injured. Falls can also stem from a worker tripping over an unmarked hazard like a power cable or slipping on an unsafe surface, such as a wet floor that was not properly marked. In any case, these injuries can lead to serious back injuries, broken bones, and other blunt-force injuries. If you landed on sharp or unsafe materials or equipment, you could be impaled and face serious puncture wounds.
How to Sue for Injuries on a Construction Site in Clifton, NJ
Often, injured workers are required to file through Workers’ Compensation for injuries instead of filing a lawsuit. However, insurance claims typically block all compensation for pain and suffering and other non-economic damages, and they leave victims with only partial reimbursement for lost wages. To get full compensation, you often have to file a lawsuit, but your right to sue is limited.
Often, employers cannot be sued directly because of these rules. Instead, you have to sue some other third party, such as a contractor, supplier, equipment manufacturer, or other party, for the injuries they caused.
If your injuries were caused solely by your employer, there might not be grounds to sue them unless the accident was caused through “intentional wrongs” under N.J.S.A. § 34:15-8. This can include intentional injuries, such as injuries from assault or pranks gone wrong. Courts may also find that incredibly reckless conduct qualifies for a lawsuit under this exception, such as cases where the actors knew of a risk and ignored the danger, proceeding with the course of conduct anyway. Case law is mixed on the issue, so consult with an attorney about your case to see if it qualifies.
Damages for Injured Carpenters, Contractors, and Construction Workers in Clifton, NJ
You might be able to claim substantial damages for a lot of the economic harms that you face in your construction accident through an insurance filing with your employer. However, this could cover only a portion of your damages for lost wages, and it might cover medical care only if you use certain doctors the insurance company chose. In a lawsuit, you could instead be able to recover full compensation for these damages, as well as other non-economic damages.
Non-economic damages are paid for things like pain and suffering and other harms that are based on your experience and inconvenience rather than economic or financial burdens. Our attorneys can help you calculate these damages and account for all mental anguish, emotional distress, lost enjoyment, physical pain, mental suffering, and physical discomfort.
The non-economic damages that you claim will usually match the other economic damages in your case in value. As such, leaving these damages on the table by filing an insurance claim is often going to mean you get less than half of the damages you truly need to cover your injuries. In many cases, non-economic damages are even double or triple the economic damages you can claim, meaning you receive an even lower fraction of what you are owed by using Workers’ Compensation alone.
Call the Clifton Construction Accident Lawyers at Legal Care New Jersey
Call (732) 838-9769 to have a free case assessment with the construction accident lawyers at Legal Care New Jersey today.
