Common Types of Accidents on a Construction Site

About Common Types of Accidents on a Construction Site

The construction accidents we see most often in New York City are falls from scaffolds, ladders, and unprotected edges; workers struck by falling material or tools; trench and excavation collapses; electrocutions from live wires and unmarked utilities; crane, hoist, and material handling failures; and injuries caused by unguarded power tools and machinery. Together, falls and struck-by incidents account for the majority of serious jobsite injuries.

New York gives construction workers protections that exist almost nowhere else. Labor Law 240, the Scaffold Law, imposes absolute liability on owners and general contractors for gravity-related injuries when proper safety devices are not provided. Labor Law 241(6) covers violations of specific Industrial Code rules, and Labor Law 200 covers general unsafe conditions and supervision.

A workers' compensation claim is usually only part of the recovery. An injured worker can also bring a third-party lawsuit against the property owner, the general contractor, or another subcontractor whose negligence caused the accident, and that claim is where pain and suffering and full lost earnings are recovered. Undocumented workers have these rights too.

Questions about your own situation? Segal Law Firm offers a free case evaluation for injured people in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Long Island & Staten Island.