CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENT

Construction sites can be a very dangerous career. When construction workers build and maintain homes, offices, government buildings, bridges, roads, and utility systems, all necessary for our society to run efficiently, they are also putting their safety on the line. The great heights, dangerous chemicals, power tools, and heavy parts and construction equipment that are part of the business could create hazardous working conditions, especially if the construction site isn’t managed with caution.

Construction Accidents Statistics

The statistics are alarming. Every year, several hundred construction employees lose their lives, and many more suffer nonfatal injuries. In 2013, for example, 828 construction workers died from injuries they sustained on the work site, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) reported. Another 197,800 construction workers survived their injuries, some of them severe, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The “Fatal Four” (and Beyond)

OSHA identifies the “Fatal Four,” or the most common causes of construction worker deaths:

1. Falls. Falls accounted for a shocking 36.5 percent of all construction deaths. That means more than one in three construction site fatalities involved a fall, from rooftops, scaffolding, ladders. The heights at which construction workers must work play a role in the danger.
2. Struck by Object. With the number of large, heavy parts and pieces of equipment that construction workers encounter on a daily basis, it’s no surprise that accidents happen in which objects strike victims in the vicinity. More than 10 percent of construction deaths involved objects striking workers.
3. Electrocutions. It’s essential to take precautions when working with electricity. When construction sites aren’t managed with care, electricity can become dangerous and fatal. About 8. 6 percent of construction workers killed on the job died by electrocution.
4. Caught-in/between. A smaller percentage of construction worker deaths, about 2.5 percent, involve being caught in or between objects or machinery, but the danger is still very serious. Even surviving victims of being caught in or caught between the parts and machinery on a construction job may lose fingers, feet, or arms, effectively ending their construction careers and often changing their lives radically.

The Fatal Four may be the leading causes of on-site construction worker deaths, but they aren’t the only risks. 

Just as there are common causes of construction site accidents, there are also medical conditions that are most likely to result from such an accident. Among the most common injuries that occur in the construction industry are:

• Amputation
• Back injury
• Brain injury
• Broken bones
• Spinal cord injury
• Soft tissue damage

Construction Accidents  Can be Prevented

Workers at construction sites don’t have to take their lives in their hands every time they climb a ladder or turn on a crane or power tool. With the right safety precautions, injuries at construction workplaces are avoidable. Just getting rid of the “Fatal Four” causes of accidents would cut the number of construction worker deaths in half, OSHA reported.

The employers of construction site workers too often choose not to make safety a priority. OSHA found that the safety standards most often violated on construction sites included several factors related to the Fatal Four, including:

• Fall protection
• Scaffolding
• Ladders
• Machinery and machine guarding
• Electrical wiring methods, components, and equipment
• Electrical systems design
• Powered industrial trucks

What should you do if you or someone you love suffered injuries in a construction accident? First of all, don’t blame yourself. You need to know what caused your personal injury and if a safety standard was violated or an unreasonable danger was allowed to exist on your work site. How do you investigate an accident when you have been so badly injured? How do you determine whether the conditions on the site violated safety laws? By having an experienced New Jersey construction accident attorney investigate the accident for you.

What Do the Labor Laws in New Jersey State About Construction Accidents?

Anyone injured at work will generally be eligible for coverage through the New Jersey workers’ compensation system. The workers’ compensation laws in this state are extensive, and they outline employee and employer rights and responsibilities in the aftermath of a work injury. While the New Jersey workers’ compensation laws do not specifically address construction accident injuries, they are comprehensive and cover incidents that occur in all industries.

New Jersey law is specific about requirements that construction companies carry workers’ compensation. State law requires at all New Jersey employers that are not covered by federal programs carry workers’ comp.

The New Jersey workers’ compensation laws make it very clear that this is a “no-fault” insurance system. This means that an injured worker should receive compensation for their medical expenses and lost income regardless of what caused the injury – the workers’ actions, the actions of a coworker, a tool mishap, or the actions of the employer.

The law requires that workers’ compensation cover the following for injured employees:

• Medical benefits. This includes paid medical treatment until the point that the injured employee reaches maximum medical improvement. This coverage includes any emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, medications, physical therapy, and any other treatment that is deemed necessary by the doctor. The employer retains the right to choose which doctor will treat the injured worker.
• Temporary disability benefits. If an employee is unable to work for more than seven days due to their injury or illness, temporary disability benefits are available. This typically means that they will receive around 70% of their weekly wages.
• Permanent partial benefits. If a person’s injury causes them to become permanently partially disabled, they can receive permanent partial benefits paid on a weekly basis after temporary disability benefits end.
• Permanent total benefits. If a worker is unable to return to any type of gainful employment due to their injuries, they may be able to receive permanent total disability benefits. These benefits are paid on a ratio determined by their former level of pay. Workers will receive these benefits for a period of up to 450 consecutive weeks, after which they must again prove that they are unable to return to work to continue to receive these benefits.
• Death benefits. These benefits are paid to the dependents of any worker killed on the job or whose work-related injury or illness led to their death. Only spouses and children who were living with the deceased worker are considered eligible dependents for death benefits unless otherwise ordered by a judge.

Any employer in New Jersey that fails to provide workers’ compensation coverage can face significant penalties, even if there are no work-related injuries reported. Failing to insure workers can result in a disorderly persons offense if the violation is determined to be willful. In New Jersey, this is a crime of the fourth degree. Penalties for failing to insure can result in a fine of up to $5,000 for the first 10 days an employer does not have insurance and up to $5,000 for each additional 10 day period for failing to insure. In cases where a Corporation is found to have no insurance, the corporate officers can be held individually liable for these penalties. Penalties assessed by the state for failing to insure are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

What is the Statute of Limitations in New Jersey for Construction Accident Injuries?

Every state is responsible for setting time limits for how long a person has to report an injury for the purposes of both workers’ compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits. These time limits are typically called the statutes of limitation.

When it comes to construction accidents, these cases will usually be handled by workers’ compensation insurance claims. However, the construction industry often operates a bit differently than other types of industries. In many cases, there are multiple third party construction companies or independent contractors present at a single construction site. This matters because injuries that are caused by a third party could result in an injured employee securing compensation through a personal injury lawsuit as opposed to strictly through a workers’ compensation claim.

Understanding the standard limitations for a New Jersey construction accident injury means understanding how the injury occurred, who caused the injury, and looking at what the laws for NJ say.

Under New Jersey law, an injured worker generally has 14 days to report an injury, but there are cases in which the injured worker has 90 days to report a specific injury to be eligible to collect workers’ compensation benefits. While internal construction company policies can be different, they will not affect the 90-day maximum period set by law. Yes, an employer could create its own policies and discipline a worker for failing to report an injury within its own deadlines, they will not prevent you from receiving the benefits you are entitled to, such as medical treatment, temporary benefits, and potential disability award amounts. Additionally, after notification to the employer has been made, an injured worker has two years to file a claim to receive compensation for their losses.

The workers’ compensation system in New Jersey is a no-fault system, meaning that it does not matter which party caused the injury. Even if a construction worker was at-fault for the incident that caused their injury, they are still entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits. However, workers injured in the course of their duties are not typically able to file personal injury lawsuits to recover additional compensation for their losses, particularly pain and suffering damages.

It may also be the case that an injured construction worker is entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit to recover compensation for their damages. If their injury was caused by a third party at the construction site, then they could be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to recover damages. This is significant because injured workers who file a personal injury lawsuit could be entitled to much more compensation than they would otherwise be able to receive through a workers’ compensation claim. An injured worker can take their claim outside of the workers’ compensation system if they are injured due to the actions of a party other than their employer. In these cases, the New Jersey personal injury statute of limitations will apply. This means that a worker injured by a third party at a construction site has two years from the date the injury occurred to file a lawsuit.