South Jersey Construction Accident Lawyer
As a worker on a construction site, you know that even when you take every possible precaution, your safety is often in the hands of the site manager, contractor, or property owner. Sometimes, these individuals don’t have your best interests at heart, so much as their own profits. This can lead to shoddy on-site training and shortcuts on safety measures. In addition to poor site management and compliance with safety regulations, there are threats posed by aging machinery, negligently-erected scaffolding, and faulty equipment. If you’ve been hurt in a construction accident as a result of such negligent behavior, call me, Joseph Monaco, South Jersey construction accident lawyer, as soon as possible after your injury. I’ll take all necessary steps to preserve your right to be fully compensated for your losses.
Common Causes of Construction Accidents
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the leading causes of death on construction sites occur due to the following:
- Falls – Construction often involves working from heights. Workers need scaffolds that are properly erected and secured, and ladders that have been tested to be in good working order. Any worker on a height should be provided with slings, hoists, nets, pulleys, perimeter protection, or other appropriate safety devices.
- Struck-by Accidents – These injuries include getting hit by a falling, swinging, flying or rolling object, including objects falling from heights or hanging from cranes. Workers can also get struck by vehicles and construction equipment on-site, from handcarts and powered lifts to cranes and earthmovers.
- Caught-in/Between – This refers to getting crushed in machinery or between a vehicle such as a forklift and a wall. Trench collapses and excavation cave-ins also fall into this category. Making sure trenches are adequately benched and shored and that forklifts and loaders have working backup alarms can help prevent these catastrophic and fatal accidents.
- Electrocution – Electrical hazards abound on construction sites, from contact with overhead and underground buried power lines to exposed wiring as structures are being wired for electricity. Electrocution injuries can include burns, nerve damage, and organ damage, and they are often fatal as well. To prevent electric shock and electrocution, workers should be given double-insulated or grounded tools as necessary, connected to ground-fault circuit interrupters. OSHA lockout/tagout standards should be employed daily.
Many Different Parties Can Be Responsible for Construction Accidents
The property owner, developer or contractor in charge of the construction project is responsible to make sure the project is conducted safely and that workers have the personal protective equipment they need to complete their work in a safe environment. Depending on the type of accident, there might be one or several different parties liable for the injuries that result. I bring claims against all liable parties to help maximize the compensation I can recover for you after a New Jersey or Pennsylvania construction accident.
- Property Owners
- Developers
- General Contractors
- Subcontractors
- Architects
- Engineers
Third Parties Can Also Be Liable for Construction Accidents
It is not always the party in charge of the construction site who is responsible for a construction accident. Oftentimes, a third party caused the accident through their negligence. In those cases, I can bring negligence claims against that party and hold them liable for the full measure of your legal damages, including medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, or wrongful death damages after a fatal New Jersey or Pennsylvania construction accident. A few examples of third-party liability for construction accidents include:
- A third party drives a truck onto a construction site to deliver supplies or materials and strikes a worker with the vehicle, or negligently unloads the materials so they strike and injure a worker.
- A third party is contracted to erect a scaffold or conduct crane operations and does so negligently, leading to a scaffolding collapse, crane collapse, or a fatal pinching or crushing injury.
- Work is being performed on a property that is dangerously unsafe, unrelated to the work that is being performed. The property owner should have warned the workers about any dangers the owner knew about or should have known about.
- A worker is injured by a defective tool or piece of machinery that was defective when it left the factory due to a design or manufacturing defect.
Serving Atlantic City, Marlton, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Bridgeton, Millville, Camden, Trenton
Construction workers perform some of the most dangerous yet necessary jobs. Although they risk injury from numerous sources, those in charge of construction sites owe it to their employees to make the worksite reasonably safe, and they can and should be held liable for accidents and injuries that result when they don’t. Call or text me at 609-277-3166 or 215-546-3166 for a free consultation if you have been hurt on a South Jersey construction site or lost a loved one in a fatal New Jersey construction accident. I practice throughout Burlington, Atlantic, Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland and Camden counties, as well as Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania. There is no fee until there is a recovery on your behalf.
