Construction Accident Attorney in San Diego, CA
State law requires most employers to provide worker’s compensation insurance policies to cover the medical expenses and wage loss associated with employees’ injuries. This insurance policy compensates most San Diego construction workers who suffer on-the-job injuries.
When the negligence of a third party is involved in a construction accident, or when someone who is not an employee working at the site experiences injuries in this type of accident, the victim can seek compensation through the personal injury claims process.
This involves first filing a claim against the at-fault contractor’s business liability insurance policy or the property owner’s property insurance policy, depending on the details of the case. If the insurance provider that services the policy fails to compensate you, you can file suit to recover the benefits you deserve.
An experienced San Diego construction accident lawyer from Rawlins Law can provide professional legal services to obtaining the compensation you need.
San Diego Construction Accident Guide
- How Do San Diego Construction Accidents Occur?
- San Diego Construction Accidents Can Cause Serious Injuries With Serious Impacts
- When Is a Third Party Liability Claim Appropriate?
- What Type of Compensation Is Available Through a Third Party Liability Claim?
- Determining Liability in a San Diego Construction Accident
- If You Were in a San Diego Construction Accident, We Can Help You
Trust Rawlins Law With Your San Diego Construction Accident Claim
Rawlins Law is an award-winning San Diego firm that provides legal services for those injured by other people’s negligence. We have extensive experience with the settlement process and personal injury litigation, and we are committed to fighting for the maximum value of our clients’ claims. We stand by our No Win, No Fee policy, which guarantees that if you don’t receive compensation for your claim, you don’t pay for our services.
How Do San Diego Construction Accidents Occur?
One of the most deadly industries in the U.S. is the construction industry, accounting for more than 1,000 deaths and more than 165,000 injuries annually. In addition to construction workers, others can sustain injuries when visiting a construction site, traveling through a work zone, or even walking by.
Construction sites are often chaotic, featuring many hazards, including moving equipment, tools and supplies, electricity, and activity at every turn. Construction companies must take certain precautions to avoid injuries or deaths in this environment. Still, many contractors prioritize productivity and meeting product deadlines more than they do safety. Here is a look at some of the most common construction accident injuries.
Falls
Falls are the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the construction industry and account for 51 percent of all falls that occur nationally.
Some of the causes of falls in the construction industry include:
- Scaffolding collapses
- Missing or broken guardrails
- Unstable flooring
- Liquid, debris, or clutter on flooring
Falls are one of the leading causes of catastrophic brain or spinal cord injuries and commonly result in broken bones, soft tissue injuries, and damage to the spinal vertebrae or discs.
Caught-In or Caught-Between
Caught-in or caught-between accidents generally involve a person falling into a piece of machinery, getting an arm or other body part caught in the machinery, or resulting from a trench cave-in. This can also involve a person getting caught between the equipment and an immobile object such as a wall. Construction companies must take protect workers and others from caught-in or caught-between accidents.
Some precautions include:
- Determining before excavation if the soil is stable enough to avoid the risk of a cave-in by doing a soil classification.
- Properly training workers on how to excavate or use complex machinery.
- Ensuring competent supervision and inspection of work sites, machinery, or protection efforts.
Struck-By
Another common cause of death and injury at construction sites involves an accident in which an object strikes a person.
The most common objects in construction struck-by accidents are:
- Vehicles. Struck-by accidents are relatively common in construction work zones on the roadway, where high volumes of traffic can be traveling through a maze of cones, flaggers, and changed roadway configurations. These accidents can involve vehicles traveling through the zone and work vehicles within the area that are pulling unexpectedly onto or off the roadway. Vehicles and heavy equipment used at other types of construction sites can also strike workers, pedestrians, and others. Failure of the operator of the vehicle or equipment to follow safety practices can even result in a vehicle rolling down a hill, striking those in its path.
- Falling or flying objects. Construction workers are generally required to wear hard hats on the job site for a reason. In the chaos of the construction site, it is not unusual for tools and building materials to fall from a height onto people working at lower levels or walking past the building. Power tools and machinery can produce flying particles, and injuries can occur due to horseplay or improper use of an air compressor.
- Concrete or masonry walls that, if not properly supported, can collapse onto passersby or workers.
Electrocutions
Another major source of injury and death at construction sites is electrocutions, which occur when a person comes in contact with a live wire, a power line, or an electrical arc flash.
Defective or malfunctioning electrical equipment can also result in electrocution, which involves electricity entering and coursing through the body before exiting again, commonly resulting in burns and damage to internal organs. One of the common ways someone gets electrocuted at a construction site is by coming in contact with live electrical equipment, wiring, or overhead power lines.
San Diego Construction Accidents Can Cause Serious Injuries With Serious Impacts
In addition to catastrophic brain and spinal cord injuries, construction accidents can cause a variety of other injuries, including:
- Traumatic amputations from a worker getting caught in a piece of machinery.
- A construction vehicle or a piece of equipment striking a person, causing internal injuries.
- Bone fractures from falls, caught-in/caught-between, or struck-by accidents.
- Severe burns from accidents involving electricity.
- Soft tissue injuries resulting from falls and struck-by accidents.
- Damage to the eyes or skin resulting from flying particles.
A serious construction accident injury can cause enormous expenses. An overnight hospital stay to treat or observe an injury can cost over $10,000 for the bed alone, with additional costs for ambulance transport, the services of physicians, surgeons, and other medical staff, the provision of prescription medications, diagnostic imaging, physical therapy, rehabilitation, and more.
In addition to significant expenses, the injured party can suffer wage loss due to being too injured to work and a permanent loss of earning capacity if the accident results in disabling injuries.
Injuries from a construction accident take both a financial and emotional toll on the sufferer and their family members. Family members are often required to take on responsibilities related to the injured person’s care while being unable to enjoy many aspects of their relationship that existed before the injury occurred.
The injured party can deal with physical pain and suffering, emotional distress over the permanence of their injury, and a loss of the ability to participate in activities they enjoyed before the accident.
When Is a Third Party Liability Claim Appropriate?
In California, all employers must purchase workers’ compensation policies, even if they only have one employee. This policy will generally cover medical treatment and wage loss for injured workers. The wage replacement benefits provided by this policy are calculated based on the worker’s average weekly wage, and the amount of time an injured worker can receive workers’ comp benefits varies, depending on the severity and permanence of the injury, and the worker’s ability to perform the tasks required of their position, or any work-related function.
For most workers injured on the job, a workers’ compensation claim is their option for obtaining compensation. Generally, if the employer has a legally required workers’ comp policy, the worker cannot seek the expanded array of damages offered by personal injury claims.
There are, however, two exceptions to this rule:
- When an employer fails to obtain a workers’ compensation policy and their employee is injured on the job, they face up to $100,000 in fines and up to a year of incarceration. They also must compensate the injured worker. If they fail to do so, the worker can seek compensation through a civil claim.
- When a third party’s negligence caused the accident. Third parties are not the injured person’s coworkers or employer. Examples of third-party negligence in a construction accident include:
- A general contractor failing to take necessary safety precautions at the job site resulting in injuries to a sub-contracted employee
- Workers who suffer injuries from a transportation accident involving a negligent driver traveling through the work zone.
Those who are not construction workers, including travelers in the work zone, pedestrians walking by a construction site, or even neighbors injured from an accident involving construction work on a residential building, can also seek compensation for their injuries through a third party liability claim.
What Type of Compensation Is Available Through a Third Party Liability Claim?
Individuals who are injured in San Diego construction accidents and are eligible to seek compensation through a third party liability claim can seek to recover economic damages for the expenses they incurred due to the injury. These include all costs related to medically treating the injury, wage loss, loss of future earning capacity, and any property damage they sustained in the accident, such as damage to their vehicle in a work zone accident.
They’re also permitted to seek compensation for the quality-of-life impacts of the injury, including pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of the enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium.
Determining Liability in a San Diego Construction Accident
One of the important services an San Diego experienced construction accident lawyer from Rawlins Law will provide is a determination of all sources of liability and the insurance policies each liable party possesses that the victim can access to compensate the claim.
Some parties you could hold liable for a construction accident include:
- The construction company or general contractor of the construction project for failing to exercise required safety measures to avoid causing injuries to others.
- The owner of the property where the construction is taking place if they knew or had reason to know that the work was creating hazards that could cause injuries to others.
- Negligent drivers traveling through a work zone.
- Negligent construction industry employers who fail to protect their employees by providing a workers’ compensation policy.
If You Were in a San Diego Construction Accident, We Can Help You
There are a lot of variables involved in construction accidents, as they can be potentially compensated through two separate processes, depending on the facts of the case.
If you sustained injuries in a San Diego construction accident, the experienced legal team at Rawlins Law can evaluate your case for free and help you understand what your legal options are per the details of the accident. Our team prioritizes honest, open communication and provides compassionate services to assist all injured people with obtaining answers to their questions about their claim.
Let our experienced construction accident lawyer tell you more about the process and the services we can provide to assist you with your claim. Contact us for your free case evaluation by calling (858) 529-5872 or filling out our online contact form.
