Artículos publicados en Falling Objects and Worker Falls

Another summer in New York City has ended, but not before the even more construction deaths occurred the city. As with so many fatal construction accidents, these involved workers who suffered fatal injuries in a fall or as a result of falling objects. Falls and falling objects consistently are the most frequent forms of fatal construction accidents, yet a lack of proper protection continues to remain a major problem in the construction industry.

In New York, the law requires construction site owners and general contractors to provide all workers with the protection they need to safeguard against “elevation-related” risks of harm. When that doesn’t happen and a worker gets hurt, that worker can obtain an award of compensation for the harm he/she suffered. To learn more about the legal options available to you related to your construction accident, reach out to an experienced New York City construction accident attorney.

In the more recent incident, PIX11 reported that 59-year-old J.P. was standing inside the bucket of a cherry picker repairing a traffic light in Queens. At around 2:45 a.m. a tall box truck passed through the intersection where the traffic signal was located and slammed into the cherry picker’s bucket, causing the worker to fall roughly 20 feet to the ground.

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In a popular 1980s movie, the henchman to the film’s main villain is asked by the police, “Did you see anything?” In his response, which is the movie’s last line of dialogue, the stunned and confused henchman simply mumbles, “A polar bear fell on me.”

In that movie, the accident’s peculiar nature and the henchman’s dazed description are meant to be amusing to the audience. However, when something unusual falls on you at your construction job, causing you to suffer significant injuries, it is exactly the opposite of a laughing matter. It is scary, frustrating, confusing and stressful. To take away some of that stress, fear and confusion, you need an experienced New York City construction injury attorney to help you identify your options within the legal system, and then pick the best one for your specific situation.

One thing that is important to understand about falling object injuries at construction sites is that not all injuries caused by falling objects will entitle the injured worker to compensation. (Do not dismay, though; a lot of them do trigger an award of damages.) As a recent case that began in Westchester County illustrated, success often depends on giving the court the evidence needed to show that your falling object accident meets all the requirements to be covered by the law.

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One of the legal bases that construction workers can use to seek compensation in court is something nicknamed the “Scaffold Law.” That statute is something that protects workers from injuries caused by “elevation-related” risks of harm and inadequate protection from those risks, whether the accidents involve scaffolds or not. This can include things falling on (and injuring) a worker or a worker suffering an injury in a fall.

That law also says that there are two people/entities that have a “non-delegable duty” to ensure that all workers receive the protection they need from fall injuries or falling object injuries. (“Non-delegable duty” means that the person/entity cannot escape responsibility by saying “I assigned that obligation to someone else, so I’m not liable.”) Those two are the general contractor on the project and the owner of the job site. However, as most anyone in New York knows, many places are not occupied by their owners; they’re leased and are occupied by a tenant. If that’s the circumstance at the construction site where you suffered your injury, would you know what to do? One of the first things you should be sure to do is to reach out to an experienced New York City construction accident attorney.

For an illustration of a scenario where you can sue a tenant, look at the case of C.R., a man who worked construction in Nassau County. C.R. was reportedly injured while doing sheetrock work to soundproof a wall that divided sports complex from a law office. As a result of C.R.’s on-the-job accident, he suffered significant injuries.

Even if you are not someone who regularly engages in construction work, you may still be entitled to pursue a claim under the New York laws that protect construction workers. If you were hurt as a result of a falling object striking you or a fall, and you were engaged in erection, demolition or repair (among certain other activities) of a non-exempt building, then you can successfully pursue a case under Section 240(1) of New York’s Labor Law and obtain an award of compensation, regardless of whether your regular duties were in construction or something unrelated. To find out more about your options, be sure to reach out to a knowledgeable New York City construction injury attorney.

Y.Z.’s case is an illustration of this concept. Y.Z. was a salesperson at a kitchen plumbing supply center in Brooklyn. One day, Y.Z. was instructed to run thermostat cable wiring through a wall on the second floor of the building where he worked. Allegedly, a duct opening in the floor was covered only by a thin piece of Styrofoam. Y.Z. stepped on the Styrofoam, it broke and he fell some 15 feet down to the first floor, suffering substantial injuries as a result, according to his complaint against the property owner.

When you’re hurt in a situation like what happened to Y.Z., there are various ways in which you can achieve a successful outcome. One of the best ones is to win a motion for summary judgment. When that happens, then you do not have to go trial on the issue of whether or not the defendant was liable, you only have to have a trial to prove how great you harm was.