According to research completed by the Center for Construction Research, more than 7,600 construction workers lost their lives between 1992 and 2010 as a result of “mobile heavy equipment” accidents. Those extreme dangers remain present today, including here in the New York City area. Whether you are working in or around an excavator, forklift, bulldozer, or other pieces of heavy equipment, you are entitled to a safe workplace. If you got hurt in or by a piece of heavy equipment because of a lack of proper safety protections, then you may be entitled to recover a significant amount of compensation. You should reach out to an experienced New York City construction accident attorney promptly to find out more about the case you may have.

A news report from WABC is a stark reminder of the severe dangers these construction workers face. The WABC report covered a fatal excavator accident in North Jersey. The worker was inside his excavator when the machine reached a point too close to the nearby river and flipped over. When it did, it trapped the man in about six feet of water for more than one hour. The water was estimated to be about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) at the time.

At the time of the WABC report, the investigation was ongoing, and investigators had yet to rule out windy conditions as a possible factor in the fatal accident. This accident happened in New Jersey but, certainly, many New York City construction workers who operate excavators might potentially face similar risks in working job sites located near rivers or other bodies of water.

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If you’ve been hurt at your New York City construction job due to inadequate safety protections, you are probably wondering what you should do. Should I file a lawsuit? If so, who is liable and how do I go about proving that they owe me compensation? For answers to these and other essential questions, be sure you talk to an experienced New York City construction injury attorney and get the answers you need.

Regarding the “should I sue” question, the answer is very possibly “yes.” New York has strong laws designed to protect construction workers (and workers doing additional jobs that are construction-related) from injuries caused by insufficient worker safeguards. Regarding the entities whom you should sue, it varies. New York law imposes strong obligations on site owners and general contractors when it comes to making sure workers are safe. However, they aren’t the only ones who may owe you compensation. If you can prove that another entity was an “agent” of either the site owner or the general contractor, then they may be, along with the owner and/or general contractor, liable for your damages.

E.L.’s case is a good illustration of how to go about proving that an entity is an “agent” of an owner or general contractor. E.L. was working as an articulating lift operator in Manhattan when the lift sped up, then skidded and crashed into a curb, which cause the worker “to be ‘ricocheted’” inside the lift basket like a pinball in an arcade game.

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In most situations where you’ve been injured at work by a falling object, your lawsuit involves one filing. In that filing, you name all those entities liable to you and you file in the correct New York Supreme Court. Some situations are different, though. For example, if you attempted to sue the state government in a Supreme Court for your construction injuries, your lawsuit would not succeed. You must file that lawsuit in a special court, but you must still pursue all other liable entities in a regular civil court case. Confused? Don’t be discouraged. There are a lot of mandatory procedural technicalities that exist in New York court procedure, and that’s one reason among countless others why you should rely on a knowledgeable New York City construction injury attorney to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.

C.P. was a worker who found himself in that kind of procedural situation. He worked on a demolition project where his duties involved removing windows. One of those windows tipped and struck C.P. in the face. What made C.P.’s case less than typical was that he was working on a project at the state prison in Attica. The owner of his job site was the State of New York, but the general contractor on the project was a private firm.

New York law says that, if you have a claim for damages against the state government like C.P. had, you must sue the state in a special court called the Court of Claims. That’s very noteworthy because the Court of Claims has its own rules about many procedural things. Those rules, for example, say that you only have 90 days to file your lawsuit against the state and also to serve notice of that lawsuit on the state Attorney General.

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If you work in, or are familiar with, construction in New York, you may have a general understanding of construction injury law. For example, if a construction worker falls several stories off a scaffold because he wasn’t given a safety harness or a proper place to tie off that harness, you may generally understand that worker is someone who could sue for his injuries. What a lot of people don’t know, however, is that these laws protect many more people than just those “hardhat” workers on scaffolds. In other words, your injury may entitle you to sue and you may not even know it. That’s why it’s always best not to assume. Instead, consult with a knowledgeable New York City construction accident attorney.

For example, look at the case of S.E. S.E. worked for a “telecommunications company in the business of installing low voltage wiring for businesses.” One day, S.E.’s employer instructed him to install cable in an office space in Manhattan. S.E.’s job consisted of pulling cabling through a drop ceiling in the office space.

While doing that job, S.E. hit his head on a steel beam and suffered significant injuries, so he sued. His lawsuit included a claim under a statute known as Labor Law Section 241(6). (That law says that, if your job site is in violation of New York’s safety regulations and that violation causes your injury, then you are entitled to seek compensation.)

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A recent New York Times article shone a light on something that many people in and around the construction industry already knew: many of the workers involved in some of New York City’s riskiest construction work are Hispanic or Latino. Too many employers and contractors rely on workers’ undocumented status and fear of governmental action to place them in jobs where corners are cut, and worker safeguards are inadequate or nonexistent. Those employers use undocumented workers’ unfamiliarity with the legal system, and fear of being reported and possibly deported, to keep them from speaking out about illegal safety shortcuts. If you’re hurt in a New York construction accident, don’t be intimidated into silence. You have rights, whether you’re documented or undocumented. Contact a New York City construction accident attorney right away to learn more about your legal options.

According to the Times report, 10 of the 12 New York construction workers who died on the job last year were Latino. 50% or more of all construction workers on non-unions jobs are Latino, while roughly 30% of workers on union jobs are Latino, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Some employers are very safety conscious. Others, however, are more concerned with cost savings and meeting deadlines than following all of New York’s safety rules and regulations. That latter group often counts on undocumented Latinos’ fears to keep them silent. These workers may recognize that their sites are not safe, but be afraid to speak out for fear of being reported.

For example, last summer, S.H., an immigrant from Ecuador, was working in the Bronx. One day, he told his wife he was going to find a new job. A week later, before he could make that job change, he died. The building in which he was working collapsed, trapping him under several hundred pounds of rubble.

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Whenever you are injured at your construction job, you probably have many worries. Your injury may have left you unable to work, whether temporarily or permanently, which means you may have great concerns about how you are going to pay your bills and meet your other financial obligations now that you’re not working. Under the law, you may have lots of different options available to you when it comes to obtaining much-needed compensation. These options may include filing a claim for workers’ compensation benefits and also filing a lawsuit in civil court. When it comes to assessing your options, be sure you seek out the advice of an experienced New York City construction injury attorney to help you choose the best path forward.

It also worth noting that, just because you pursue one option and your case is unsuccessful, that doesn’t mean that all options are closed to you. Look at this case involving a New York City worker. S.S. was a construction worker who was working in Queens County when he was injured. S.S.’s injury was allegedly the result of something called an “elevation-related” risk, meaning that it involved either him falling or something falling on him.

S.S. filed a claim for workers’ compensation. S.S. also filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages under Sections 240(1) and 241(6) of the Labor Law, which are two laws that permit construction workers hurt on the job to recover compensation in civil court.

New York’s Labor Law has some specific statutes designed to protect construction workers who are hurt on the job, and to give them an avenue to obtain much-needed compensation from those responsible for those injuries. If you are hurt on the job and you sue, you will very likely face several obstacles. The entities you sue may claim that the statutes don’t cover you or your injury. They may claim that you were the sole cause of your accident, meaning that you should not receive payment. Achieving a successful result means being prepared for these and other defense arguments. Enhance your chances of success by obtaining the service of an experienced New York City construction injury attorney. .

The workplace accident case of E.M. was an example of one of those type of cases. E.M.’s injuries were the result of a scaffolding accident. The worker was taking down a bridge scaffolding sheet that was attached to underlying support cables. The sheet tipped and, when it did, it caused E.M. to fall some 25-30 feet, where he landed on a steel beam. E.M. had a lanyard but it was detached at the time of the fall.

E.M. sued both his employer and the property owner of site where he was hurt. The Appellate Division recently issued a ruling that said that E.M. was entitled to go forward with his Section 240(1) case against the employer and the property owner. Section 240(1) of the New York Labor Law, sometimes called the “Scaffold Law,” says that workers can recover compensation if they are hurt as a result of improper safety protections and harm that resulted from an “elevation-related” risk of injury.

After you’re hurt working on a construction site, you may understand that you should pursue compensation for your injuries and that the law provides various avenues for doing just that. However, would you know which statutes and/or regulations to select as part of your lawsuit for compensation for your construction injury? Many options for success come with many opportunities to make a mistake that can harm or doom your case. Make sure you’re not in that position by retaining the services of a knowledgeable New York City construction injury attorney.

A lawsuit filed by a construction worker at JFK Airport was an illustration of many of these options. C.M. was a construction worker who was hurt in August 2014. According to the worker, he and a co-worker were carrying a wooden floor panel that weighed roughly 150 pounds when C.M. stepped on a piece of plywood that covered a hole in the sidewalk. The plywood gave way and C.M.’s knee slammed into the ground.

The worker sued for his injuries. In his lawsuit, he asserted that he was entitled to receive compensation based upon violations of three different statutes. Asserting as many different valid arguments as possible can be a wise approach to your case. The more plausible arguments you provide as bases for compensation, the more chances you may have for a successful outcome. Even if the court rules against you on one or two of your claims, your remaining claim or claims may be sufficient to get you the damages award you need.

If you’re hurt in an accident while working a construction job, you may have options available to you to obtain compensation for your harm. New York law has statutes that generally permit injured workers to sue the property owners and the general contractors involved in the project where the accident occurred. There are certain exceptions to these legal rules that exist and can get in the way of your recovering compensation, such as the exception granted to owners of one- and two-family dwellings. The key, if you’ve been hurt, is knowing how to structure your case so that it does not get ensnared by legal exceptions. A skilled New York City construction injury attorney can help you to get your day in court and make your case.

As an example of a lawsuit involving the homeowner’s exception, consider the facts of this case. A.T. owned a house in Westchester County, but the 89-year-old woman lived permanently in a nursing home. The homeowner’s children hired M.D. in the summer of 2011 to paint the inside of the vacant house. A.T.’s son told the painter to use a ladder and to access the home through a window. In the process of attempting to enter the window, M.D.’s ladder slipped from beneath him and he fell, suffering substantial injuries. The homeowner died four months after the painter’s accident.

If you’re hurt in an accident like this, there are many things you’ll need to consider. First, does the work you were doing qualify? If you’re a painter like M.D., the answer generally is yes. The New York laws that generally protect construction workers and allow them to recover compensation apply to painters, among others. This means that painters can often bring a lawsuit under these statutes, which include Section 240(1) of the Labor Law (which covers you if you fall or if something falls on you) and Section 241(6) of the Labor Law (which covers you if you are hurt because someone failed to comply with New York State’s safety regulations.)

If you’re hurt in an accident while working a construction job, there may be multiple legal options available to you to obtain compensation for your harm. If a worker is hurt in a fall or due to something falling on him/her, there is one New York law that can allow the worker to seek damages. (That is Section 240(1) of the Labor Law Code.) If a worker is hurt due to someone else’s failure to follow the rules laid out in New York’s code of safety regulations, then that may provide the worker with a separate basis for obtaining compensation. (That is Section 241(6) of the Labor Law Code.)

If you’re hurt in an accident that involved a safety regulation violation and something falling (either an object falling on you or you falling), then you may have the opportunity to assert both of these laws as bases for an award of damages. Generally, in most any type of civil lawsuit, the more bases for compensation you can assert, the better your chances of success. In order to make sure you have the strongest case possible to give you every opportunity to obtain all the compensation the law allows, contact a skilled New York City construction injury about your case.

An example of a worker who was able to pursue multiple claims based upon the statutes was the case of a man named J.P. J.P. was a worker doing roofing work in the Rochester area when he suffered his accident. The roof on which J.P. was working was a pitched roof, which meant that it sloped downward on each side. In order to aid and protect the workers, “toe boards” were placed on the roof. These toe boards were two inches by six inches and nailed directly into the roof. The toe boards were already nailed into the roof when J.P. began his work. J.P.’s accident occurred when his toe boards detached from the roof, which led to his falling off the roof and all the way to the ground, resulting in serious injuries.

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