BROOKLYN CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT LAWYER

During a free case evaluation, one of our Brooklyn construction accident lawyers reviews your case to determine the cause of your injuries. Discovering the cause of a construction accident provides us with insight into whether negligence played a role in harming you.

Although there are many causes of construction accidents, five causes stand out as the most common in New York City.

Fall From an Elevated Position

More than 40 percent of all construction-related accidents are because of a fall from an elevated position. A fall from just the second floor of a building can result in life-threatening injuries. Falling from a ladder and scaffold represent the two most common types of elevated falls. Many states require construction workers to wear protective gear while working at a construction site. For example, New York’s scaffolding law requires employers to provide construction workers with the proper safety gear for any type of work done while on a scaffold. Failure to follow the New York scaffolding law can lead to the filing of a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Slip and Fall

Although the fall occurs much closer to the floor or ground than the distance of an elevated fall, a slip and fall can still produce severe injuries, such as brain trauma and internal organ bleeding. Debris, poor lighting, and/or a slick surface all contribute to slip and fall accidents. You also might sustain injuries by tripping and falling over an object. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a slip and fall represents the most common reason for a construction accident that produces injuries.

Improper Use of Equipment

Construction workers operate a wide variety of equipment, including forklifts to move heavy objects to another location on site. Failure to receive adequate training for the operation of construction equipment can cause injuries such as broken ribs, spinal cord damage, and/or a fractured leg. A worker who sustained injuries because of the lack of training on how to use construction equipment might have a strong enough case to file a personal injury lawsuit against the special or general contractor.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

As a form of repetitive stress injury, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) typically starts as a dull pain in the impacted area before it develops into a highly painful injury that makes it impossible to work. Construction project activities such as moving objects and handling the same power tool every day can produce CTS symptoms. Although most cases of CTS at construction sites fall under workers’ compensation law, one of the Brooklyn construction accident lawyers at Morgan and Morgan might discover your employer should assume some of the legal liability for the development of your injury.

Toxic Chemicals

OSHA regulations require special and general contractors to conduct comprehensive training programs to prevent workers from sustaining injuries that are caused by prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals. Extended exposure to toxic chemicals can cause a wide variety of injuries, including burns, internal organ damage, and a compromised immune system. Workers that receive proper training and still sustain injuries because of exposure to toxic chemicals do not have a strong enough case to charge a special or general contractor with negligence.

For the first few steps after a construction accident, you need to follow the same steps for filing a workers’ compensation claim or a personal injury lawsuit.

Receive a Diagnosis and Undergo Treatment

Whether this is the first step or a step that you complete after fulfilling your obligations at the site of the construction accident, you must receive medical care to file a workers’ comp claim or a personal injury lawsuit. You should obtain the results of diagnostic tests, as well as a detailed description of your treatment programs and physical therapy sessions. Some symptoms of the injuries that develop because of a construction accident do not appear until hours or even a couple of days after the incident.

Inform Your Employer

Informing your employer initiates the workers’ compensation process. Your employer gives you the proper documents to complete and submit, as well as explains the procedure followed in New York for the filing of workers’ compensation claims. Although you inform your employer to initiate the workers’ compensation process, one of the Brooklyn construction accident lawyers from Morgan and Morgan that is assigned to your case might recommend the filing of a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Gather Physical Evidence

The medical bills and records that you submit along with a workers’ compensation claim and/or civil lawsuit are just part of the evidence you need to collect and organize. With the help of your construction accident attorney, take photographs of the accident scene and request copies of the safety inspection records from OSHA. Witness accounts can provide legal support for any physical evidence gathered at the scene of the construction accident. You also want to receive a copy of the formal incident report presented by your employer or the law enforcement agency that responded to the incident that caused you harm

To file a civil lawsuit against another party that seeks monetary damages, one of the Brooklyn construction accident lawyers from Morgan and Morgan must demonstrate the other party committed at least one act of negligence. Proving negligence requires your legal counsel to prove the presence of four legal elements.

Duty of Care

The duty of care doctrine requires one party to assume legal liability for the safety of a second party. For a construction project, the duty of care doctrine applies to the general contractor and specialty contractors. Both parties must implement measures that protect workers against construction accidents, such as providing sufficient training and ensuring the structural integrity of items such as ladders and scaffolding.

Proving your employer has a duty of care to protect you against sustaining injuries is the easiest element to prove negligence.

Violating the Duty of Care Doctrine

The second element of negligence requires the team of Brooklyn construction accident lawyers from Morgan and Morgan to show that another party breached the duty of care doctrine. For example, since a general contractor assumes a duty of care to ensure all equipment protects workers against injuries, a structurally unsound ladder that forces a worker to fall from an elevated height represents a violation of the duty of care principle.

Causation

A breach of the duty of care doctrine, such as not providing adequate safety training, must have caused your injuries. To prove the presence of the third element of negligence, your attorney submits medical records that verify the injuries that you sustained resulted from a breach of the duty of care doctrine. The lawyer representing the other party will try to claim you sustained your injuries from another incident.

Financial Losses

For the fourth element of proving negligence, you must show the judge hearing your case that the injuries sustained because of a construction accident generated financial losses. The key to linking your injuries with financial losses is to present copies of bank statements and timekeeping records. Every financial-related document must include a date to show you suffered financial losses at the same time as sustaining the injuries that developed because of the construction accident.

You have many options for hiring a Brooklyn construction accident attorney. Why should you choose Morgan and Morgan to handle your case?

Proven Record of Success

With more than 35 years of experience handling construction accident cases, Morgan and Morgan stands out in a crowded field of law firms because of our proven record of success. Our successful results have helped thousands of clients recover the financial losses that were associated with a construction accident.

Versatile Legal Support

For a construction accident case, you can either file a workers’ compensation claim or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. As a law firm that has a presence throughout the United States, Morgan and Morgan attorneys handle both workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. This means you do not have to shop around for another law firm if your case involves either type of legal practice.

Responsive Communication

One of the most frustrating things experienced by clients of other law firms is having to wait days to receive a response to a question. At Morgan and Morgan, we provide our clients with a toll-free number 24 hours a day to ask general legal questions. When you send an email or text message, as well as leave a phone message, our goal is to get back to you during the same business day.

Schedule a free case evaluation today to determine whether your construction accident injuries should result in the filing of a workers’ compensation claim or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.