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How a construction accident lawyer can help you

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Unlike other day-to-day blue or white-collar jobs, construction jobs are quite unique because more often than not, workers are exposed to direct physical threats that may not be foreseen. Some accidents may be unavoidable while others may be due to illegal safety standard considerations. For this reason, workers should always be prepared to procure construction accident lawyers in case they are directly or indirectly involved in construction-related accidents. Construction accident lawyers may be helpful in assisting construction accident victims obtain their lawful compensation or question the laws guiding the safety standards of the workers.

Construction accidents and construction accident statistics in California and Los Angeles

There are many accidents and injuries that may be suffered in a construction site some of which are :

  • Broken bones
  • Exposure to toxic fumes and radiation
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries
  • Chemical burns
  • Back, neck and spinal injuries.
  • Crane and forklift accidents
  • Electrocutions

Construction accident statistics show that yearly 150,000 construction site accidents occur in the US and result in injuries to the workers and other nearby parties. 309 construction workers died in California between 2013 and 2017 as a result of accidents in construction sites. Fatal injuries rose from 50 to about 70 between 2016 and 2017 in the construction-related cases. Construction fatality reports In Los Angeles indicate that falls amount to about 39.2 percent, object strikes about 8.2 percent and electrocutions amounting to 7.3 percent.

Acquire lost wages for affected workers

A construction accident lawyer may help injured workers acquire lost wages from an employer. A worker may have sustained severe injuries at the place of work and the employer may want to illegally terminate his or her work contract, for instance, to avoid paying wages according to the signed agreement between the employer and the worker. The lawyer on behalf of the worker may compel the company under the law guidelines to act as the written agreement or face consequences of the law.

Help investigate the cause of the accident

Construction accident lawyers may decide to enquire the real cause of an accident on your behalf, to determine if the cause of the accident was due to gross negligence on the part of the employer, the worker or just bad luck with no trace of negligence or carelessness. The lawyers may decide to include police officers to conduct an investigation on the employer’s conduct in relation to the accident and then take further action.

Negotiate and push for compensation

Some, if not most construction workers have insurance policies covering them against injuries due to the nature of their work. Getting compensation from some of these companies may be a bit complicated and that’s where a construction accident lawyer may come in to help you negotiate terms for your compensation procedure and generally ensure goodwill on the part of the employer.

Help press charges against non-cooperating employers

Sometimes the conflict between the employer and the injured worker may be heated with no signs of a consensus. In this case, a construction accident lawyer may help you press charges and help you against the employer in a court of law so that settlement can be decided through a justice system. This is usually the case where employers are big influential companies and may want to take advantage of their workers. The lawyer after filing the case, would then defend you against the employer and argue your case for fair consideration.

There are different laws over the world that have been put in place to regulate the construction industry. Construction accident lawyers should be able to help you be enlightened on these laws. For instance in California, there is a ‘no-fault workers compensation’ insurance cover that is mandatory for companies to cover their employees. This law ensures that workers do not need to prove that the employer was at fault to be compensated. There is also a California law that directs that most injury cases must be filed within 2 years from the time of injury sustained and sometimes a period of 6 months for government employees. You should, therefore, contact a construction accident lawyer to keep you up to date with the construction guidelines.

Conclusion

It may not be obvious that when one wakes up in the morning to go work in a construction site that they may encounter an accident, but when they do, the accidents are usually fatal. Accidents at workplaces may be rare but the guidelines for what should transpire if an accident happens to have to be put in place. Having construction accident lawyers available to help you as a construction worker and your family when affected by an accident is highly important to assist in the process of claiming compensation, negotiating terms and conditions of safety guidelines among other requirements.

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