Artículos publicados en Other Construction Accidents

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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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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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.

In any construction injury case, there are several steps to getting you your best possible outcome. One of key “wins” you can obtain is to secure a summary judgment in your favor on the issue of liability. This can have the potential to save you a great deal in terms of time, money and stress. A recent ruling from the New York Court of Appeals is a very beneficial one for injured construction workers because it expands the range of situations in which an injured worker can obtain such a judgment. What you can take away from this new ruling is that, even if you may be negligent to some degree in the events leading up to your accident, you may still be able to achieve the success you need. Talk to a knowledgeable New York City construction accident attorney about your injury to find out more.

The worker in the case, C.R., was an employee of the city’s sanitation department. One wintry day, C.R. was one of three employees assigned the task of outfitting snow plows and chains on sanitation truck tires. As one of the other members of the group backed a truck into the garage to begin the outfitting process, the truck skidded, hit a parked car and sent that car into C.R., pinning him against a rack of tires.

The accident caused the man very serious injuries. He had to undergo spinal fusion surgery, steroid injections and substantial physical therapy. The accident also left him permanently disabled from working.

There are many aspects of construction work in New York City that are particularly dangerous. As recent incidents have shown, work that involves elevators and elevator shafts is one of those areas. Whether it is being struck by a moving elevator, being hurt when an elevator malfunctions and falls or being injured in a fall into an elevator shaft, the potential for serious or even fatal injury is significant. If you’re hurt in one of these kinds of accidents, you may have suffered serious injuries and may have a need for substantial compensation for the harm you suffered. Be sure to retain an experienced New York City construction accident attorney to help you in getting the recovery you need.

In October 2019, another construction accident meant yet another construction death. Although details were sparse in many reports, most reports seemed to agree that a 24-year-old worker was traveling in an elevator of a Manhattan high-rise when he dropped his phone. As the worker moved to retrieve the phone, he fell, tripped or somehow became entangled in some type of material. As NBC New York described it, “he somehow became caught on something.”

The elevator then fell, and the worker slammed into a “saddle,” which is a metal piece that is part of the shaft. The saddle crushed the man and killed him.

Construction work in New York is dangerous work. There are many common ways in which a worker can be injured or killed. Sometimes, however, the danger that injures you at your construction job is particularly unusual or a “freak” accident. Does the fact that a danger was especially unexpected, and an accident was a freak one necessarily mean that you are less able to recover compensation for the harm you suffered? No, it doesn’t. Whether your accident was of a common variety or was a freak injury, you should contact a knowledgeable New York City construction accident attorney right away to get started assessing your legal options and best path forward.

As an example of a recent real-life “freak” accident, there is the tragic accident in Port Jefferson Station that Newsday reported claimed the life of a 22-year-old worker. A.O., the man killed in the accident, was a member of a construction crew that had staged cable guide wire along North Bicycle Path, intended to hoist that wire above the road and into place. Before the crew could hoist the wire, however, a pickup truck driver drove along the street and over the wire. The wire became entangled in the truck’s undercarriage, then became taut as the truck continued moving forward. The wire managed to entangle A.O. and his two co-workers, dragging all three along behind the truck.

According to the report, one man suffered minor injuries, another was reported to be in critical but stable condition immediately after the accident, and 22-year-old A.O. was dead.

As 2018 has drawn to a close, information about construction work in New York City reveals both good news and bad news. While the number of construction permits in the city rose substantially in 2018, meaning a growth in the availability of construction work, so did the number of construction worker injuries and deaths on the job. Unfortunately, those two things often go hand in hand. As the demand for new construction increases, frequently so does the pressure to work quickly and, too many times, to cut corners to meet tight deadlines.

When safety gets sacrificed in the name of efficiency and speed, and construction workers get hurt in the process, New York law may allow those injured workers to sue and get much-needed compensation through the legal system. To discover more about your legal rights in relation to your on-the-job construction accident, be sure to talk to a knowledgeable New York City construction attorney.

Recently, The Jewish Voice published a report about the state of construction work, and construction injures, in New York City in 2018. The Jewish Voice‘s report indicated that construction permits were up in the city this past year, as builders sought to replace properties washed away by Superstorm Sandy with new buildings, both commercial and residential.

There are two statutes commonly used to provide compensation to injured construction workers in New York. One helps workers who have been hurt as a result of elevation-related risks of harm, which includes workers falling from heights and objects falling from heights onto workers. The other helps workers who are hurt because someone on their job site who was responsible for ensuring safety did not do so in the manner required by New York’s safety regulations. (New York law imposes a legal obligation on site owners and general contractors to comply with these safety regulations, and that obligation cannot be “handed off” to others.) These laws potentially cover a wide array of situations so, if you’ve been hurt in a construction accident, you should definitely reach out to an experienced New York construction injury attorney.

A recent case from here in New York City that serves as an example. J.R. was an ornamental steelworker serving as a foreman on a project in Manhattan when he was hurt in a slip-and-fall accident on a Q-deck. A Q-deck, for those not familiar with the term, “refers to the corrugated metal deck which served as a floor during the construction process.” As with any other part of the construction process, a Q-deck can become dangerous if it is not inspected and maintained for proper safety.

The foreman’s accident occurred as he stepped off an Alimak elevator and onto a Q-deck. The foreman allegedly stepped on a patch of nearly invisible ice. He slipped and fell, suffering serious injuries as a result.

There are many types of construction jobs that can be very dangerous. In fact, most construction jobs carry with them varying degrees of risk of personal harm. Certainly, the job of elevator mechanic is no exception to that. Whether you were working as an elevator mechanic or in some other construction job, you may be entitled to compensation if you were hurt at work. To learn more about how you may be able to go about seeking that compensation, talk to an experienced New York City construction accident attorney about your accident.

Miguel was an elevator mechanic who was hurt on the job. At the time of the accident, he was working on a commercial building project in Brooklyn. His duties involved entering a concrete crawl space underneath the freight elevator motor room. While doing his job, Miguel tripped while moving toward the space’s entrance/exit hatch. This caused the mechanic’s arm to become caught inside a pulley system that was part of the elevator. Since Miguel’s assistant had begun to operate the elevator, the trip caused Miguel’s arm to become caught in the pulley’s cable and inflicted substantial harm on Miguel.

The mechanic decided to file a lawsuit and seek compensation for his injuries. New York law has multiple different options for injured workers seeking compensation for the damages they’ve suffered on the job. One method is using a statute nicknamed the “Scaffold Law,” which is Section 240(1) of the Labor Law. That statute says that you may be entitled to bring a lawsuit and receive compensation if you were injured as a result of inadequate safety protections to shield you from “elevation-related risks.” These can relate to things falling on you or you falling off equipment, like scaffolds or ladders.

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