Construction work is dangerous. When something goes wrong on the job, good people can sustain serious injuries or even be killed due to another party's negligence (even the negligence of their own employer). If you or someone you love has been injured at a construction site, you need to contact a construction accident attorney immediately.
Construction injury cases can be very complex because they are governed by state and federal regulations, including those standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Furthermore, depending on whether you were a contractor, a subcontractor or an employee when you were injured, the types of remedies available to you may vary greatly. Add to the mix the question of whether or not the employer subscribes to workers' compensation insurance, and you have an extremely complex set of legal and procedural issues that must be handled as soon as possible.
Many accidents are the result of failure to maintain equipment or failure of an employer to train employees how to do dangerous tasks. Some accidents happen because employers have cut corners on seemingly little items, with devastating consequences. For example, something as simple as the failure to use grout to support columns can cause devastating damage and serious injuries, as was the case with a recent parking garage collapse in Houston.
In addition, some construction accidents are caused by the negligence of someone other than the employer, for example when equipment is defective and malfunctions. Many cases have several causes involving negligence of an employer and a product manufacturer. Finally, it is a sad fact that when construction companies fail to meet OSHA standards, the fines assessed by OSHA for violations of safety regulations are never more than a few thousand dollars — even if a construction worker dies as a result of the OSHA violation! Some companies would rather gamble with the lives of their workers and contractors and risk a slap on the wrist from OSHA than spend the time and money doing the job safely.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a construction accident that could have been prevented but for the negligence of others, you need an attorney with the experience and the knowledge to look at all possible causes and identify each and every responsible party. The Arlington construction site accident attorneys at the Jim Ross Law Group have the ability and the resources to handle cases involving employer negligence, OSHA violations and/or manufacturer liability for defective products and equipment.