According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the most common types of accidents at construction sites are:
- Falls
- Being struck by objects or equipment
- Getting caught in trenches or excavation areas deeper than five feet
- Getting caught in machinery or equipment
- Electrocutions
While many construction site accidents involve construction workers, non-employees can also get injured while walking past or through construction sites, especially in urban areas or where construction sites occupy the sidewalk. If you or a loved one was injured at a construction site in McKinney, whether as a worker or a civilian, you can work with a lawyer to help you pursue compensation for your injuries and related damages.
Construction Sites Are Notoriously Dangerous
In 2019, both the public and private sectors experienced work-related fatalities. For construction and excavation occupations, 136 workers died on the job. Within the private industry, 123 construction workers also passed away.
The construction industry is known for having work-related injuries and fatalities occur on an annual basis—so much so that OSHA reports that more than 100 work-related fatalities occur every week in the United States.
Beyond the most common types of accidents at construction sites listed above, other types of construction accidents also include:
- Scaffolding accidents, such as structures falling down
- Hazardous materials not being controlled, such as flammable liquids or chemicals
- Ladders or other tools malfunctioning or falling over
- Accidents involving a lack of protection for the eyes, face, and respiratory system
For civilians, construction accidents can also occur because of:
- Improper or lack of warning signs
- Not checking for people inside buildings before demolition
- Leaving objects and debris on a walking path or the roadway
- Falling objects outside of the worksite perimeters
- Not providing a safe walking path for civilians to go through when needing to get past a worksite
- Not securing scaffolding enough so that it does not collapse over passersby
Personal Injury vs. Workers’ Compensation
Because construction accidents can affect both employees and non-employees, one of the first questions a law firm representative may ask you is whether you work for the construction company that supervised the site you were injured on.
If so, you may qualify to file a workers’ compensation claim. You can have a lawyer assist you with the claims process. Additionally, if you attempted to claim workers’ compensation but were denied, you can hire a lawyer to help you appeal this decision and have your case reviewed with additional evidence or information. For more information about workers’ compensation, you can refer to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI).
If you were not a construction employee but were still injured on a worksite, you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit against the construction company and/or any other potentially liable parties involved. In some cases, construction workers may also be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit if another party besides their employer may have been potentially responsible for their injury, such as another worker, a non-employee, an equipment manufacturer, or a municipality.
According to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §101.0215, municipalities may be held liable for injuries to the public that occur because of zoning, maintenance, or building projects that were authorized and managed by the local government. This includes injuries that occur in construction site zones. For these instances, you would file a personal injury lawsuit.
For a free legal consultation, call (972) 535-6377
You Must Abide by the Deadlines that Apply to Your Case to Pursue Compensation
Whether you are filing a personal injury lawsuit or a workers’ compensation claim, both types of cases require you to adhere to deadlines to commence the legal process.
If you are filing a personal injury lawsuit, Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §16.003 mandates that you file your lawsuit within two years of your accident. If you do not file it within this timeframe, you may jeopardize your right to pursue compensation, as the defendant would be within their legal right to contest your lawsuit and have it dismissed.
If you are filing a workers’ compensation claim, you must report the incident to your employer within 30 days of the construction accident or when you became aware of the injury, according to the Texas Office of Injured Employee Counsel (OIEC). You may have other important dates to consider, which your lawyer can inform you about and keep track of while managing your case.
Get a Construction Accident Lawyer from Underwood Law Office
If you or a loved one was a victim of a construction accident, you might be entitled to receive compensation for the damages that occurred. At Underwood Law Office, we handle various personal injury cases, including construction accident cases, and we want to extend our services to you. We can also help you prepare your workers’ compensation claim if you were injured while working on a construction site.
For a free case evaluation, call our team at (972) 535-6377. We can assess whether you qualify for a workers’ compensation claim, personal injury case, or both. Also, our team works on a contingency-fee-basis, so you do not have to worry about paying attorney’s fees unless we secure you compensation, in which case our fee comes out of the award.
Call or text (972) 535-6377 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form