As a “Construction Worker”, if you are injured on a construction site, in California you may be entitled to pursue both a Workers Compensation Claim as well as what is called a thirdparty claim, if someone other than your employer caused your accident. Unfortunately, many workers are not aware of their right to potentially bring a claim for anything other than Workers’ Compensation benefits if they are injured regardless of the fact that many construction sites contain many underlying hazards and risks that are significantly increased when there are several contractors working at the same time, some of who are in certain instances utilizing poorly trained workers that do not perform their job in a safe or competent manner.
Additionally, many construction sites consist of a work environment of heavy equipment, power tools, workers being ordered to perform their work duties at significant heights, all of which contribute to an increase of serious injury. As a result, while working in this type of environment workers are exposed to risk of falls, explosions, electrocutions and trench collapses among other dangerous and hazardous conditions. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor approximately 5,200 people in the United States die each year due to accidents in the workplace. An additional 4.3 million workers in the United States of America suffer serious workplace injuries each year.
Consequently, if an accident is negligently caused by someone other than your employer, you may then be entitled to sue that “third party” for damages consisting of certain medical specials, loss of earnings as well as for pain and suffering which potentially results in a much fairer recovery than what would be provided for solely under the Workers Compensation system.
The typical type of “third party” that is found at fault in a construction site accident is a subcontractor who created a hazardous condition, the property owner or lessor of the site if it is not the employer, the manufacturer or lessor of defective equipment or machinery involved in the accident, or even the owner of a motor vehicle on the site that caused or contributed to the workers injury.
If you have any questions concerning any third party rights that you might have if unfortunately you are involved in a workplace accident, please feel free to contact Kaplan Law Corporation toll free at 1(800) 5-KAPLAN (1(800) 552-7526) at no obligation.
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