When a construction site is not run safely, it can be extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, thousands of workers are injured or killed on construction sites every year. When a worker is injured on a construction site, there are two different cases that a Massachusetts Construction Attorney bring.
The first is a workers compensation claim. When a worker is injured on a jobsite, workers compensation insurance will pay medical bills and any lost wages that result from the injury. In many cases, an injured worker has no choice but to bring a workers compensation claim. Health insurance will not pay medical bills when an injury occurs at work. While workers compensation is helpful to an injured worker, that worker will bring home less money every week.
In many cases, an experienced construction accident attorney will be able to bring a case against another contractor who was on the site, and was responsible for safety. It is the job of a general contractor to make sure sites are safe. Beyond that, every subcontractor has a job to do on a jobsite, and if they do not do it safely, an injured person may have a claim against that contractor.
The construction accident attorneys at Mirick O’Connell have decades of experience in maximizing the money that an injured worker can recover. In the past, we have handled countless types of construction accidents, including:
-
Scaffolding accidents
-
Falls
-
Falls from roofs
-
Struck by object accidents
-
Tree removal accidents
-
Forklift accidents
-
Defective ladders
-
Electrocutions
-
Trench accidents
-
Trucking accidents
-
State and federal regulation violations
-
Occupational Safety and Health Administration [“OSHA”] violations
-
Defective machine accidents
-
Unsafe building accidents
-
Unsafe materials accidents
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration [“OSHA”] lists its “fatal four” of construction deaths, and estimates that if the “fatal four” were eliminated, it would save 602 workers lives per year. See the OSHA's article here. Those “fatal four” are falls, struck by object, electrocutions, and “caught in or between” cases. The experienced construction accident attorneys at Mirick O’Connell have handled all of these types of cases.
In addition to providing these statistics, OSHA provides regulations that contractors must follow. For example, general contractors are often responsible for providing fall protection to workers, containing electricity, and contractors must provide safeguards to make sure that objects do not fall. If a contractor does not do these things, and a worker is hurt as a result, the contractor may be responsible.
The construction accident attorneys at Mirick O’Connell are huge proponents of worker safety. We believe that holding negligent contractors financially responsible helps to ensure that they run safer sites in the future. It is rewarding to us when we not only help a construction worker recover from their lowest point, but see that the contractor who injured that worker makes safety improvement to jobsites in the future.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a construction accident, please do not delay in calling the construction accident attorneys at Mirick O’Connell. The faster we know about a possible case, the faster we can begin to investigate. In the immediate aftermath of a construction accident, we can interview witnesses, make sure your medical bills and lost wages are getting paid by workers compensation, talk to expert witnesses that we may want to retain, and do a number of other things that will help us gain an early advantage over the insurance companies.
Practice Chair
