Bronx Construction Accident Attorney

If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident in the Bronx, contact a Bronx construction accident attorney as soon after the incident as possible. construction injury accidents can be especially complex due to all the potential sources of liability for your injuries.

During 2013, more than 4,500 workers lost their lives in workplace accidents. It should not surprise anyone that more than 20 percent of those accidents occurred on construction sites. In addition to these fatalities, hundreds of thousands of construction workers sustain serious injuries on the job each year.

Construction sites are inherently dangerous places. Many factors, including the use of electrical equipment, heavy machinery, power tools, falling debris, and scaffoldings or ladders greatly heightens the chance of construction sites injuries.

If you are injured on a construction site or you lose a family member as a result of a construction site accident, a construction accident lawyer may help.

After a construction accident, victims may not know their rights or the best way to seek financial recovery. You may need to deal with life-changing injuries or the loss of a family member, and you likely do not know where to turn to fully protect your rights.

The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond have seen the devastating effects of construction accidents on workers and their families. Attorney Ivan Diamond is committed to representing the rights of injured construction workers and pursuing the compensation they need to cover their extensive losses. If you are in the Bronx or New York City area, please do not hesitate to call The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond for a free case evaluation as soon as possible.

Common Construction Accidents

According to the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), four types of accidents were responsible for nearly 60 percent of all construction accident deaths. These are referred to as construction’s “fatal four” and include:

1. Falls – Construction workers often work from high places, including scaffolding, roofs, crane baskets, ladders, and more. Even with all of the proper safety equipment, construction workers can fall and sustain fatal injuries. Even if someone survives a fall, victims can suffer severe broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and head injuries. As a construction accidents lawyer, we have worked with victims of construction site falls.
2. Getting hit by an object – Many construction sites consist of open shells of buildings. Workers on beams, scaffolding, and ladders often lose control of tools, building materials, and other items that can fall, hit workers below, and cause serious injuries. Falling items cause slightly more than 10 percent of fatal construction site accidents; injuries can range from broken shoulders to traumatic brain injuries and more. A construction accident lawyer can help you recover money to compensate you for lost wages, medical bills, and wrongful death.
3. Electrocutions – Power tools, extension cords, and other items that use or carry electricity require proper maintenance and storage. When they are poorly maintained, construction workers can wind up with serious burns. Some may even die from electrocution. Construction workers also often work with or near unfinished or ungrounded electrical systems, which can lead to electrocution. OSHA reports that slightly more than 8 percent of construction site deaths result from electrocution. If you lost a loved one because a worksite electrocution, a construction accident lawyer can help.
4. Caught in or between – Construction workers can get body parts caught in or between heavy machinery or building materials. Cranes, forklifts, and other large equipment present the risk of these injuries, as do motor vehicles and collapsing building structures. Unfortunately, more than 2 percent of deaths on construction sites result from victims trapped in or between objects. People who survive may require an amputation or suffer from other disabling injuries.

Workers can suffer debilitating or deadly injuries in many other ways, including:

• Getting hit by vehicles in road work zones
• Power tool accidents
• Ground collapses
• Slips and falls
• Explosions and burns
• Welding accidents
• Chemical burns
• Inadequate or defective safety gear or harnesses
• Defective tools or materials
• Safety violations by employers

After any type of construction accident, workers should explore their right to compensation for their losses. In some cases, this may involve making a claim with an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance for coverage of medical bills and lost income. However, workers’ compensation may not cover all of your losses stemming from catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. For this reason, consult an attorney about filing a legal claim against any third party who bears responsible for the accident.

Third Party Claims to Discuss With Your Construction Accidents Lawyer

In some cases, the carelessness or negligence of third parties cause accidents on a construction site. A third party’s responsibility for injuries or death gives victims the right to seek compensation outside of workers’ compensation claims. Potential third parties who could bear liability for such accidents include:

• Manufacturers
• Third party contractors
• Property owners
• Drivers

A common scenario that may lead to a third-party claim after a construction accident is a piece of equipment that malfunctions due to a defect. For instance, if a scaffolding manufacturer sold defective scaffolding and the structure collapsed, the manufacturer should face liability for any personal injuries or wrongful death. In addition, drivers who speed or become distracted in road work zones may crash into workers, causing life-threatening injuries.

Many people who are not directly affiliated with your employer may work on a construction site. Contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, independent electricians, and others can all work on a site alongside a construction crew. Often, accidents happen because one of these parties is negligent. In such cases, not only may you hold the negligent party liable for your losses, but that person’s employer may face responsibility as well.

Complicated laws govern whom a victim can hold responsible for construction injuries. Liability will depend closely on how an accident occurred and any parties or equipment involved. You need an attorney with specific knowledge of construction accidents and how to identify any third-party liability.

Attorney Ivan Diamond has the legal and technical knowledge to properly represent seriously injured construction accident victims and to seek full compensation in each individual case.

Losses From a Construction Accidents

Because construction accidents can leave victims with devastating losses and workers’ comp may not cover all of them, victims must consider third-party claims whenever they apply. After severe injuries, victims may incur:

Medical bills – Most injured construction workers require immediate medical attention. Often, someone will call 911 and emergency medical personnel will transport the victims in an ambulance or even a medical helicopter. Once at the hospital, doctors will perform emergency trauma care, which may include emergency surgery, intubation, and other life-saving procedures. Victims may find themselves admitted to the intensive care unit or the general hospital, where they may have to stay for weeks or undergo additional surgical procedures and medical treatments.

Severe injuries can require medical treatments for months, years, or the rest of a person’s life. Treatments can involve doctor appointments, rehabilitative therapy, medications, medical equipment, and more. An experienced attorney will include both past and future medical costs in the damages sought in a construction accident claim.

Lost earnings – A construction worker who is recovering from injuries will almost certainly not soon return to the construction site, especially when hospitalized or recovering from surgery. This can result in substantial amounts of lost income, which can make covering bills and basic household expenses difficult.

Some construction injuries leave workers with permanent disabilities, which can prevent them from ever returning to construction work. A victim may need to find lower-paying work or rely on disability benefits if the injury permanently precludes employment. A skilled attorney will seek to recover both past lost income and future lost earnings in a personal injury claim.

Noneconomic damages – Some losses are not based solely on monetary losses but instead on the damage a serious injury has on a victim’s quality of life. Such losses can include pain and suffering—both mental and physical—lost enjoyment of life, permanent effects of injuries, disfigurement, and more. If your injury left a severe impact on your life, you need a lawyer who understands how to calculate and obtain noneconomic damages in injury cases.

Wrongful death – A sudden accidental death can hurt each family in a different way. In New York, families can seek compensation for medical bills stemming from the construction injury, funeral expenses, lost wages, lost household support and services, lost parental care of children, lost inheritance of children, and any pain and suffering stemming from the wrongful death.

Catastrophic and fatal injuries often result in incomprehensibly extensive losses. Victims may not know how to calculate losses or begin seeking the compensation they deserve. You need an aggressive and committed attorney on your side who can do that for you.

Contact a New York City and Bronx Construction Accident Attorney for More Information

To determine whether you have a personal injury case, your construction accident lawyer will need to know all of the circumstances of the accident, the condition of the job site, as well as any safety hazards that nobody on the site adequately addressed.

Bronx Construction Accident FAQs

With all of the construction going on in and around New York and in the Bronx, there are bound to be construction accidents. Families and victims should be aware of their rights in a construction accident, such as the ability to collect workers’ compensation or to sue a third party for damages.

If you suffer from injuries or lost a loved one because of a construction accident in New York City, you can and should contact The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond as soon as possible for a free case evaluation and to learn more about your rights. Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions Mr. Diamond’s construction accident clients have.

Can an injured Bronx construction worker both collect workers’ compensation and sue?

In most cases, workers’ compensation covers Bronx construction accidents. If workers’ compensation is available, an injured construction worker usually doesn’t need to sue his or her employer.

However, the injured construction worker may need to sue the workers’ comp insurance company if it refuses or reduces benefits for a valid claim. And you can sue third parties in some circumstances. For example, if a defective piece of equipment caused the construction accident, you might sue the manufacturer of the equipment. A subcontractor victim of a construction accident could have a claim against the general contractor or even the owner of the property in addition to the workers’ compensation claim against his or her employer.

What damages can I recover from a Bronx construction accident?

Damages are payment a wrongdoer is legally required to make for the harms done to their victim. The damages you can recover following a construction accident depend on the factual circumstances of your case, including whether the defendant acted negligently or, rather, recklessly, and what kinds of impacts the accident has on your life.

You may recover compensatory damages in a New York construction accident lawsuit and, in some cases, punitive damages. Compensatory damages include economic and non-economic damages. Compensatory damages are intended to make a victim whole again. The purpose of punitive damages is to punish a defendant for engaging in especially egregious behavior leading to the accident. However, in most cases, you must show intent or gross negligence to collect punitive damages.

What are economic damages in Bronx construction accident cases?

Economic damages, also referred to as special damages, are compensation for tangible expenses a victim incurs as a result of a defendant’s harmful conduct.

Economic damages may include:

• Medical expenses you incur from the time of the accident until you settle the case or win a trial award.
• Medical expenses you are likely to incur after a settlement or a trial award. In some cases, construction accidents cause severe and catastrophic injuries that lead to long-term or permanent disabilities requiring expensive medical treatment, such as surgeries, follow-up appointments, cognitive therapy, physical therapy, and psychological therapy.
• Past lost wages for the time you couldn’t work, from the time of the accident until you settle your case or win a trial award.
• Future lost wages for not having the ability to go back to work due to the extent of your injuries. If you do go back to work but have to take a lower-paying job because of long-term or permanent disabilities caused by the accident, you could collect partial future wages.
• Replacement or repair of personal property. For example, if you are in your vehicle in an approved parking area or driving past your construction worksite and a crane falls on your vehicle, you could collect compensation to replace or repair the vehicle.
• Funeral, burial, and/or cremation expenses in the event of losing a loved one in a construction accident.

What are non-economic damages in Bronx construction accident cases?

General damages, or non-economic damages, are compensation for intangible costs one incurs as a result of a defendant’s harmful conduct.

Non-economic damages include compensation for:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress. Those injured and those who lose loved ones in construction accidents often experience significant pain and suffering and /or emotional distress and may be compensated for those harms.
• Loss of consortium if you can no longer have a physical relationship with your significant other.
• Loss of companionship if you can no longer participate in family activities and events.
• Loss of enjoyment of life if you are housebound or if you can no longer do some of the things you once enjoyed, including your job.
• Loss of use of a body part, such as an arm or a foot.
• Loss of use of a bodily function, such as your eyesight or hearing.
• Inconvenience, if you have to hire someone to do the chores around the house, such as lawn maintenance, grocery shopping, cleaning, and home maintenance.
• Amputation or disfigurement.

You generally cannot claim non-economic damages in workers’ comp claims—but you can in third-party lawsuits. That’s why you should call us whenever you’re injured on the job. If a third party contributed to your injury, you can recover a lot more compensation. We can evaluate your claim to identify and bring a case against any liable third parties.

Can I sue a Bronx construction company if I was just walking by a site and suffered injuries?

Yes. If you were on or near a job site and you were authorized to be there, you may sue. Pedestrians who are injured while walking outside of a job site may sue the construction company, the property owner, contractors, and /or other companies working on the site who are liable, or responsible, for the accident.

Do I have to retain an attorney for my Bronx construction accident case?

Yes, you will need an attorney experienced in such often complex cases. A construction accident attorney can provide many valuable services, such as helping identify who to go after for compensation for the accident, explaining your rights under the law, and ensuring you do not waive such rights.

How long do I have to file a claim for my Bronx construction accident injuries?

It depends on whether you are filing a workers’ compensation claim with your employer or are suing a third-party. In New York, the time you have to file a lawsuit, also referred to as the statute of limitations, against a third-party depends on the type of claim or claims, whether it is a wrongful death, product liability, or some other type of Bronx construction accident injury. A construction accident attorney can help you determine all your potential claims so you do not leave any potential source of compensation on the table.

Discuss all of these issues with me during our initial consultation and I will be happy to help you decide how to proceed.

If you were injured on a construction site or you lost a loved one as a result of an accident on a construction site, attorney Ivan M. Diamond is an experienced Bronx injury lawyer and is ready to help review your case. Call him today at (718) 588-2000 or write to him online for a free, no-obligation consultation.

The Law Offices of Ivan M. Diamond
888 Grand Concourse Suite #1L, 10451
Phone: 718-588-2000

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