CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS
Construction is a high hazard occupation. During the period from 1980 through 1995, at least 17,000 construction workers died from injuries suffered on the job. Construction lost more workers to traumatic injury death than any other major industrial sector during this time period. Construction has the third highest rate of death by injury: 15.2 deaths per 100,000 workers. Only mining and agriculture experience higher rates. The leading causes of death among construction workers are falls from elevations (i.e. scaffolding), motor vehicle crashes, electrocution, machines, and struck by falling objects.

According to the recent annual Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the most recent "lost-workday" case rate for the construction industry was 5.7 per l00 full-time workers, the highest of the major economic sectors.  This is because industrial accidents often result in severe personal injury such as spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, quadriplegia, paraplegia, fractured necks, back, bones and sometimes death. 

Due to the severe nature of such injuries, industrial accidents are often the subject of personal injury, product liability and wrongful death lawsuits.  However, many states Workers Compensation laws bar recovery from the workers employer.  Additionally, workers compensation laws are often a surprisingly inadequate means of compensating a severely injured employee. 

In order to receive compensation that accounts for pain and suffering, a plaintiff may have to prove that a party other than the employer is responsibility for the injury-causing accident.  If the injuries are severe, it will be critical to identify negligent "third parties" (other than the employer), in order to avoid the restrictions imposed by workers compensation laws.  Often, these Third-Party Defendants are not immediately apparent.  Knowledge of the industry, contract law, insurance coverage, unions, and creative lawyering are often all important ingredients for a successful construction site injury case, including falls from scaffolding and ladders, inadequate supervision, and defective equipment.

Often the principals of Agency and Corporate law result in unexpected determinations as to who is truly the "employee" and who are viable "third parties".  Subcontractors, as well as general contractors who may be responsible for supervision, may be contractually responsible for the injuryas Third-Party Defendants.

Experienced construction injury lawyers must have a command of work site plans, critical path methods, and chain of command on any given job. The lawyer must take witness statements as soon as possible.   Finally, your attorney should be an experienced trial lawyer, with a superior knowledge of the evidence and applicable law, relationships with the most prominent, technical, and medical experts related to a given case, as well as the resources to ensure the best representation possible.