Workers' Compensation for Construction Sites: Your Options

Injuries on construction sites are not uncommon and usually quite serious given the dangerous equipment and situations construction workers are often placed in. Those construction workers injured on the job may have some options when it comes to making a claim for compensation to cover the costs associated with a workplace injury.

To be eligible for workers’ compensation, you do not need to prove someone else was negligent and caused your injury, but only that you were injured and the injury took place while working on the job. Workers’ compensation usually covers the costs of medical expenses, lost wages, and disability related to your injury.

There is a give and take with workers’ compensation in that while such claims reduce the expensive and time-consuming litigation of a normal injury case, those pursuing a claim relinquish their right to pursue other damages such as pain and suffering against their direct employer, leading to the need for an injury attorney to file a separate claim for damages against the general contractor or another responsible sub-contractor.

Negligence is the Key to Compensation

If you are injured by another person working on a construction site such as a general contractor, subcontractor, negligent architect, engineer, or supplier, you can hold them liable along with their employer.

Negligence can manifest itself in several ways on a construction site, such as:

• Electrical shocks from defective equipment
• Falling from scaffolding that was improperly built
• Defective safety equipment
• Injuries from repetitive motion
• Trench collapse
• Hazardous or toxic chemical leaks or spills

You may also be able to bring a civil lawsuit for product liability if you are injured by a piece of equipment which malfunctioned due to faulty design or poor manufacturing. You may be eligible to hold the tool designer accountable for such poorly-functioning materials. A successful product liability suit will be able to demonstrate the tool responsible was dangerous once manufactured, you used the tool properly, and the tools malfunctioning directly caused your injury.

If you were harmed in any way on a construction site you have rights that our skilled Boston personal injury lawyer can help with. The Law Offices of Steven R. Whitman can fight for your rights to compensation and stand beside you through the entire process. Call the firm today!