Construction site injury accidents can lead to devastating injuries, disability, or even death to workers, bystanders, and people simply passing by. Unfortunately, many of these events occur due to negligence.
If negligence led to the accident that ultimately caused your injuries, you might have a valid legal claim for compensation.
The challenge that many construction accident victims face is determining who has liability. A personal injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale at our firm can help you negotiate the complex Florida criminal justice system, protecting your legal rights and fighting to get you the fair financial compensation you deserve for your injuries.
Causes & Risks of Construction Accidents & Injuries in Fort Lauderdale
In Fort Lauderdale and throughout Florida, construction sites are full of potential injury and accident hazards.
Construction site workers face countless risks of injury accidents every day. Some of the most common ways that workers can get hurt include:
- Being struck by construction materials or debris
- Falling from scaffolding or ladders
- Being struck or crushed by equipment or machinery
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Burns and electrocution
- Becoming trapped or crushed by structure or trench collapse
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the majority of Florida’s fatal on the job injuries occur in the construction industry. However, bystanders, passersby, and construction site visitors face many of these same risks.
Some of the most common injuries that result from job site accidents include the following:
- Head and neck injuries
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Fractures
- Lacerations
- Burns
- Internal injuries
- Spine and nerve injuries
- Amputations
- Paralysis, paraplegia, quadriplegia
Construction workers injured on the job have the right to pursue a workers’ compensation claim, although these benefits may not cover all your damages. Workers or others injured on a construction site may pursue legal action against the at-fault party and their insurance company.
For instance, if your workplace construction accident concluded in an amputation, you should discuss your case with our Fort Lauderdale amputation lawyers. They might be able to guide you through the legal process of seeking compensation from the liable party or parties through a personal injury claim or lawsuit.
The Benefits of Having a Construction Accident Lawyer
With the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine on your side, you can rest assured that we will fight aggressively to protect your legal rights and get you the settlement you need to protect your future.
To accomplish these goals, we must carefully build your claim and thoroughly document every aspect of your case.
Our legal team will go to work immediately to determine whose negligence led to your construction accident and injuries. This may require obtaining witness statements, safety and accident reports, and any potential photos and videos of the job site. We will call on our investigators, safety experts, and accident reconstruction specialists to help us gather the evidence we need.
How we submit and pursue your claim will depend on who has liability for the accident.
If your employer violated any U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards or otherwise did anything to place you and others at risk, you will receive medical treatment and partial compensation for lost wages through the company’s workers’ compensation insurance. Often, however, this coverage does not provide adequate care or compensation for other economic damages.
Other potential at-fault parties include third-party contractors, equipment or material suppliers, manufacturers, or some combination of these. In that case, we will pursue your claim – at least initially – through the at-fault party’s insurance carrier.
The complexity of determining and proving liability is one of the most important reasons to have a construction accident lawyer in Fort Lauderdale on your side. Our legal team understands the challenges of your case, especially if your injuries will not allow you to return to work. We can handle all the details of submitting and negotiating your claim.
If necessary, we will prepare your case for trial and pursue a settlement in court.
Determining How Much You Can Recover in a Construction Accident Claim
Our legal team will determine the value of your claim based on your medial treatment costs to date and the value of all treatment and care you will need in the future.
We will include the amount of your lost income to date, and the value of your future lost wages. We can include the value of your pain and suffering and any other expenses you incurred because of your construction accident.
Finally, for any permanent disability or damage you suffered, we will include a legally established value for your loss.
How Your Construction Accident Lawyer Establishes Liability for Your Injuries
For many victims of serious construction accident injuries, determining who is at fault for the incident poses a significant challenge.
At any given time on an active construction site, the general contractor and multiple subcontractors may all have activities underway. Typically, the general contractor or construction manager bears the burden of establishing and enforcing safety protocols and guidelines. If the site superintendent or project manager fails to enforce these policies and a safety breach occurs, their company may fault any accidents that occur.
However, subcontractors may also have responsibility for their employees’ negligence. The property’s owner, developer or manager may also bear some or the entire fault for an accident, depending on the circumstances.
Once we determine whose negligence led to your injury accident, our legal team will build a case to demonstrate the at-fault party’s liability by demonstrating the legal elements of negligence.
Duty of care – Every contracting firm working onsite owes a duty of care to its own employees, other workers, and the public. As an example, an earthwork contractor must ensure that employees have the proper training to operate heavy machinery. A window contractor must require its employees to use scaffolding properly, including tying off to prevent falls and wearing proper safety gear.
Breach of duty – When anyone working on a job site fails to uphold their duty of care, accidents can happen. If the earthwork contractor allows an untrained employee to operate earthmoving equipment, they have liability for any accidents or damage that occurs. If a window contractor fails to make its employees tie off to scaffolding or wear a hard hat, the contractor may have liability for subsequent injury accidents.
Causation – If an accident occurs because the at-fault party breached their duty of care, the Florida liability statutes hold that party liable for any economic damages that result. Therefore, if a job site subcontractor allowed an untrained person to operate a backhoe and that operator subsequently struck you, the contractor has liability for any injuries you sustained.
Actual damages – The final legal element of negligence is actual economic damage or the provable value of your construction accident loss. We will demonstrate actual damages by providing copies of medical bills, wage statements, medical expert testimony, and other documentation as necessary.
Call Now for a Free Consultation with a Construction Accident Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale
If you or someone you love suffered injuries in a construction accident, contact the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine as quickly as possible. The sooner our team can collect evidence and begin building your case, the sooner we can submit your claim.
We provide a free consultation to answer your questions and help you explore your options. Call us today to meet with a construction accident lawyer in Fort Lauderdale.
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