The Pennsylvania Construction Accident Guide was created by our experienced attorneys to help injured residents obtain full compensation from the negligent party. Contact our office to schedule a free consultation.
If you were injured on a construction site in Pennsylvania – as a visitor or a worker – you’re likely scared and unsure of your legal options. Our Pennsylvania construction accident lawyers can help. We fight to get you the maximum compensation for your injuries.
Construction sites can be dangerous areas to visit or work, and they have inherent risks. Unfortunately, many construction accidents are caused by negligence, unsafe conditions, or equipment malfunctions. If you sustained injuries due to negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. You need the help of one of our Pennsylvania construction accident lawyers.
Our lawyers work hard to build your case, file claims, and fight for the maximum compensation for your injuries. If you were involved in a construction accident, we want to help. Call us today to learn more about your rights and what types of compensation may be available to you. We offer free, no-obligation consultations for construction accident victims.
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Causes of Construction Accidents
There are risks involved when working at or visiting a construction site. Yet, site owners, vendors, and contractors have a responsibility to follow safety protocol to protect anyone onsite.
If negligence was the reason for your accident, you may be entitled to compensation.
Some of the most common causes of accidents include:
- Inadequate fall protection
- Inadequate protection from falling objects
- Tripping hazards
- Unsafe equipment conditions
- Inadequate protections against electrical malfunctions
- Unsafe ground conditions
It’s important to contact a qualified attorney if you believe your accident was caused by unsafe conditions. A lawyer helps you build your case by investigating the unsafe conditions that caused your accident.
Entitled to Worker’s Compensation
Were you injured while working? The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act provides protections for workers and employers. This law allows workers to recover money for any costs related to their injuries, but it also limits a worker’s ability to file suit against an employer.
Under PA’s worker’s compensation laws, you are entitled to compensation for your medical bills and lost wages. To apply for worker’s compensation, you inform your employer about the injury, seek medical attention from an approved doctor, and file a claim.
Yet, this process can be complicated, and it’s overwhelming for those recovering from serious injuries. Not to mention, your employer may claim that you did not sustain an injury at work, or there may be unique circumstances that led to your accident, e.g. an injury-caused by a vendor at your site.
Our Pennsylvania construction accident lawyers fight for the benefits you legally deserve. Often, you do not need to file a lawsuit to recover compensation. Our team can help you file a workers’ compensation claim and fight for any and all benefits that you rightfully deserve.
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Types of Compensation Available
Construction accidents bring uncertainty to your life. You’ll likely have medical bills to pay, and suffer from lost wages for time away from work. This can be scary and leave you unsure of your financial future. Fortunately, there are a number of legal avenues to help you recover compensation quickly.
Ultimately, the type of compensation you pursue depends on your case. In the majority of work-related injury accidents, you’ll likely qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. These benefits provide coverage for many of the costs related to your accident, including:
- Medical care
- A percentage of your lost wages
- Disability benefits
Other times, victims may qualify for additional benefits. Sometimes, for example, the liable party isn’t your employer, but a third-party vendor. In these cases, you can file a suit or make an insurance claim to receive additional benefits to pay for:
- Long-term medical care
- Medical costs not covered by worker’s compensation
- Additional lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
Wrongful death lawsuits are another legal option if a loved one has died in a construction accident. A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed against the liable party. If this is a type of action you want to pursue, our Pennsylvania construction accident lawyers will review your case to determine a plan of action for your family.
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Hire a Pennsylvania Construction Accident Lawyer
Filing a worker’s compensation claim is complicated and can be overwhelming, especially if you’re recovering from an injury. A qualified attorney manages the entire process for you. Your attorney will:
- Investigate your accident
- File appropriate paperwork
- File your workers’ compensation claim
- File for Social Security disability claims (if applicable)
In some cases, a negligent third party may be responsible for the accident. In these cases, a lawyer files insurance claims on your behalf, and can also help you file a personal injury lawsuit.
Our team will investigate your accident, collect evidences, and determine who was responsible for the accident. After our investigation, we contact the liable party and fight for the compensation you deserve. Our team will file insurance claims or negotiate a settlement for you, but if we cannot reach a fair settlement, our legal team is prepared to take your case to court.
Frequently Asked Construction Accident Questions
How Do I Pick a Lawyer?
I’m often asked by people, “How do I know who’s a good attorney and how do I choose the best lawyer to represent me?” In a construction site accident, like in most other cases, you want to look for someone with experience. It’s important to ask the lawyer that you’re considering hiring if they’ve handled cases like this before. Ask them as many questions as you can think of about those experiences and how they handled the case. In addition to getting an idea of how experienced that attorney is, the more you talk with the attorney you’re thinking of hiring, the better idea you get for that person and whether that’s the person that you want to represent you. The relationship that you enter in with your attorney could go on for several years if it’s necessary to try the case, so you want to have someone who you’re comfortable with and confident in.
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What Should I Do If I’m Hurt on a Construction Site?
If you’re injured at a construction site, the first thing that you want to do is seek attention for whatever injuries you have. That is by far the most important thing that you can do. Secondly, you want to seek out someone who appears to be in charge of that scene, make known to them your injury, and also get information from them including their name, their employer, and what their role or their connection is to the construction work that’s ongoing. Thirdly, after you’ve done those things, you want to seek out the help of an experienced personal injury lawyer with trial experience, who would be willing not only to make a claim on your behalf but, if need be, litigate that case, which includes conducting extensive discovery to determine things like who was in charge or who was responsible for the condition that caused you harm and injury.
What Mistakes Should I Avoid?
One of the mistakes that people make when they’re injured at a construction site is they don’t take the steps to try to find out who is in charge of the location. They don’t document the condition that caused their injury as best as they can. It’s understandable because your first concern is your well-being and your medical condition, but if there’s someone that you can contact to do so for you, have them take a look at that site and record, as best as they can, what was going on at the time of the injury. If need be, the person that you might need to contact as soon as possible is an experienced personal injury attorney. That attorney or an investigator on your behalf will get to that scene as soon as they can and document the condition that caused your harm.
Should I Report My Injury?
If you’re injured at a construction site, one of the most important things that you can do is notify management, or someone who appears to have been in charge of that site. If there does not appear to be anyone in charge of the site at that time, you still want to try to find out as much as you can about who the owner of the site was, who the construction companies on site were, and if you’re unable to do any of that, you may need to contact some local municipal authority or police to see what information they can provide you as to who is responsible for that location.
Who Can I Hold Responsible?
There are times when people are injured in the course of their employment and one of the questions that always comes up is, “Who can I hold responsible?” In Pennsylvania, there is a workers’ compensation law that, in most instances, precludes you from suing your employer. Your only recourse against your employer would be recovery of workers’ compensation benefits. However, it’s important in those situations to talk with an experienced lawyer, because there are exceptions to that general rule that might permit you to go forward with a civil action against your employer. Even if you cannot sue your employer, a lawyer can help you make a full recovery of workers’ compensation benefits and can also look and see if there are any additional parties who might have responsibility or liability for your injuries, so that you can make a recovery over and above what’s available to you under workers’ compensation.
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What is Discovery?
One of the things that you always have to take into consideration in any personal injury case is who is responsible for the injury. Who is the owner of the property? Who is doing the construction work? Once you identify those parties, you need to do what’s called discovery or an investigation, so that you can find out whether they had appropriate insurance coverages. You can also find out through discovery and investigation whether there might be other additional parties that were responsible for the thing or the condition that caused your client harm.
What is Worker’s Compensation?
In Pennsylvania, there’s what’s called the Workers’ Compensation Act, and that’s a law that’s set up to protect employers. That law covers employers injured in the course or scope of their job, even if the employee may have in some way been responsible for their injury. The idea behind workers’ compensation is that anyone injured while working, and is losing their wages due to medical treatment should make some recovery. Workers’ compensation benefits are available to replace a portion of the wages that you’re losing and also, very importantly, to provide you with health insurance or medical coverage so that you can get treatment for any of the injuries caused by this workplace accident.
Request a Free Case Evaluation
If you were injured in a construction accident, don’t hesitate to call. Our Pennsylvania construction accident lawyers provide free, no-obligation case reviews. We will review the facts of your case, and offer advice about the best course of action for recovering maximum compensation. Call today to learn more about your rights.
About the Author
Paul is a life-long resident of the Pittsburgh area. Giuffre attended Duquesne University on an academic scholarship and earned his law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law in 1991.
He began his career as a prosecutor with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office. Using the trial and courtroom experiences he gained there, Giuffre moved on to private practice and began representing clients in a wide variety of criminal and civil litigation matters. As a partner in a Downtown Pittsburgh firm that focused on medical malpractice and personal injury cases, Paul both settled and tried to verdict six and seven figure case.
Through his affiliation with the Accident & Injury Law Group, Paul continues to provide representation to victims of medical negligence and those who suffer serious, permanent or chronic injuries as a result of car accidents, construction site incidents, and premise liability matters.
Giuffre has been recognized as a Super Lawyer, a Top Attorney in Pittsburgh, and a Best Attorney in Pennsylvania. Paul is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates and is an invited member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County – an invitation based on an assessment of his skill, professional standards, and ethics.
Giuffre is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Allegheny County Bar Association, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and Duquesne University Law Alumni.
