A construction accident is any accident that occurs on a construction site or during the course of a construction project, whether that’s a new project or remodeling. Construction sites are riddled with many hazards, including heavy machinery, toxic chemicals, and unstable materials.
If you were severely injured on a construction site, you may be eligible to recover compensation from the negligent party with the help of a skilled personal injury attorney. An experienced Pascagoula construction accident lawyer can help you seek compensation for all of your damages and injuries.
There are several ways someone not involved in construction can find themselves involved in a construction accident. One way is patrons of a business, or some other premises may enter that premises when there is construction taking place. Anytime there is construction, there can be hazards to individuals.
Passerby’s, people who are curious to look at a construction site or people that may have to enter construction sites, such as inspectors or people providing materials to the job site, may also find themselves at high risk of injury.
How liability and compensation is determined may depend on if the injured party is an employee working on the construction site or if the injured is just a visitor.
If the person injured is an employee of the construction site, then most of the time, that person will be covered by workers’ compensation insurance available through their employer. They must report the injury to their employer, and then that their employer will make a claim to provide wages and medical care for the injury.
Construction jobs involving contractors and subcontractors can be extremely complicated. The reason is because most contract jobs have written contracts which describe the liabilities involved for injured employees. For instance, if an injured employee was an employee of a subcontractor and another different subcontractor caused an injury, that employee may be entitled to sue the injury-causing subcontractor or its employee.
Every case is different, and liability for job safety is generally assigned to the general contractor for the job. However, on many small jobs, there may be only one contractor, and the injured employee cannot sue the premises owner unless the premises owner did something to cause the injury. These types of cases tend to be extremely complicated and govern by contract and require an experienced attorney to look into all the available coverage and all the available parties that may be able to compensate the injured employee.
If the injured party is not an employee, then that person has a right to sue the person or entity that caused the injury. This may be simple to determine, or it may be complicated to determine who was actually responsible for that individual’s safety on the job site. These types of accidents are governed by contract and the available coverage that is in place to cover accidents on the job site.
There are a variety of injuries in construction accidents one of the most common ones that we see is falling hazards, either employees or individuals that fall as a result of unsafe premises. Additionally, materials used in the construction that may fall and cause injury to individuals or employees of the job site. In the scope of employee, there is also the typical back injury, neck injury, joint problems, broken bones and other similar injuries that one would typically see on a labor intensive job site.
The major issue with construction accidents is the severity of the injury. There certainly are minor injuries related to job sites. However, the severity of the injuries that we typically see on job sites tends to be more severe. The complexity of the construction accident is also heightened because of the number of companies and individuals that are going in and out of the construction site on a daily basis.
Compensatory damages are calculated for construction accidents just like any other case, where there are economic damages such as medical bills, lost wages and other bills that are incurred as a result of the injury sustained. There are also non-economic damages available to compensate construction accident victims for pain and suffering.
Punitive damages are rare in any case, but may be available if an individual acted intentionally. Intentional conduct is extremely rare in construction accident cases. But there are circumstances where an employee of one company may seek to intentionally injure an employee of another company. However, most punitive damages cases that arise from construction accidents occur due to the construction company or through one of its employees, acting with such reckless disregard for the safety of others.
Having an experienced attorney help following a construction accident is important because these types of cases are extremely complex and determining fault can be challenging. Therefore, it is important to determine who is actually or which company is actually liable for injuries and is responsible for safety on the job site. Let a skilled attorney help.
Call today to learn more about how a seasoned Pascagoula construction accident lawyer can help you get the compensation you need.