Construction Site Injuries

Construction work has the highest rate of job related injuries and fatalities in the country. There’s a major misunderstanding of the law involving construction accidents in the belief that workers’ compensation is the only available remedy when somebody is hurt or killed on a job site. That statement might generally be true, but there are many times on construction sites where workers are injured through the negligence of somebody on that site who wasn’t their co-worker or employer. Those are known as third party liability cases. As opposed to restrictive workers’ compensation laws, the law of negligence applies to third party liability cases. Broader damages can be sought, and there are not as many limits to those damages. If you have been injured on the job, contact the personal injury attorneys at Springer & Lyle.
A simple case of construction accident third party liability might arise when Charlie the electrician is employed by ABC Electric. He’s on a ladder in the parking garage of a project near the corner of a lane of traffic designated for exiting the garage. Cones are placed 10 feet from his ladder to alert anybody driving in that lane of his presence. Mike delivered some security cameras for XYZ Security. He’s in the exit lane of the garage and reaches for his phone and drops it as he comes around the corner. He looks down for an instant and doesn’t see the cones or Charlie on the ladder. He drives through the cones, and hits the ladder, knocking Charlie 10 feet to the ground. Charlie sustains multiple fractures, some so serious that they require surgery.

Since Charlie was injured by somebody on the job site that wasn’t his employer or co-worker, he has two cases. First, he has the workers’ compensation case since he was hurt in the course of his employment. That case is heard in the Texas Workers’ Compensation Commission. Second, he has a third party case against Mike and his employer for negligence. That case isn’t heard in an administrative commission. It’s heard in a court of law by a judge and 12 jurors if necessary. The third party liability case is generally more valuable than the workers’ compensation case because more kinds of damages are allowed in the third party case.

Springer & Lyle focuses its practice on personal injury. Injured workers deserve fair compensation. We aggressively pursue it for them.