New York Construction Accident Lawyers
Have you been injured on a New York construction site or other on-the-job accident?
We all know that New York City's skyscrapers were built by workers who have risked their lives constructing them. And through history, they have died doing their job. Five workers died building the Empire State Building; 3,400 workers were involved in building it. Between 30 to 40 died building the Brooklyn Bridge, www.endex.com/gf/buildings/bbridgedeaths.htm.
For those who suffer catastrophic injuries, worker's compensation may not be the only remedy. Generally, there is no cost to hire a top NY construction accident lawyer; most work on a contingency fee of 33% at the conclusion of the case.
Serious construction site accidents require serious Manhattan construction accident lawyers. If your injuries relate to a construction site fall, worker death,
scaffold injury or on-the-job ladder fall, then the best advice we can give you is to retain a Manhattan construction lawyer who is a specialist or expert in this area of the law, and not a general practice lawyer. In our opinion, it may make the difference between your case being a $ 200K case or being a $ 2M case. See, 'Our Referral Fees' page for an example of such under-valuation. By calling our hotline number for a free consultation with an experienced construction accident lawyer handling crane collapse cases in New York City, or discussing defective equipment, scaffold injuries and scaffold falls, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Scaffolding accidents kill about 4,500 per year, as workers often are on scaffolds of limited space or negligently constructed or tied and falls from such scaffolds in New York result in severe injuries because of the height elevation involved. According to OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration which is the Federal agency involved in the enforcement of safety and health legislation for construction workers, among others, most scaffold accidents result when planking or supports give way, or a scaffold worker slips or trips or when objects strike workers on such scaffolds; further, defective or improperly secured scaffolds are also a major cause of injury on construction sites. There have developed certain safety mechanisms for workers on scaffolding, such as: anchors (under OSHA rules they must be able to support a minimum of 5,000 pounds per worker); webbing (ropes and straps used in the lifelines, strength elements of body harnesses and lanyards); body harness (which minimizes stress forces on the body during a fall from a scaffold); verticle lifelines (which again must have a minimum break strength of 5,000 pounds; each woker under OSHA rules must be attached to a verticle lifeline).
Accidents are a known hazard in the construction industry -- particularly in New York
City. In fact, construction ranks third in the rate of injury-caused deaths, following
mining and agriculture. Unfortunately, workers compensation does not adequately
cover the hardships that result from such unexpected injuries.
In New York City, construction accident lawyers are a specialized breed of litigators because of the complexity of not only the accident itself, which requires knowledge of that industry, but also because lawsuits for hurt or killed construction workers in New York, Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan deal with a specialized area of the Labor Law, which all lawyers dealing with construction accidents in NY are familiar with, particularly Labor Law Sections 200, 240(1) and 241(6). Building is particularly dangerous because the normal
dangers of working in construction are made worse by the fast-paced building environment.
For instance, construction accidents frequently occur in the NYC skyscraper building
environment because of defective machinery or hazardous conditions. Crane collapses,
scaffolding or ladder malfunctions, electrocution, and N.Y. Industrial Code violations
are common causes of accidents on a NY construction site.
Government agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
place restrictions on construction building and create construction site regulations
to try to prevent accidents that result in fatalities and injuries. Despite these
precautions, OSHA estimates that at least 1000 workers will face a work-related
death this year and many of the deaths and injuries will have been preventable. Importantly, scaffolding accidents, crane accidents, and elevator accidents, in that they are gravity related, most often fall within the protection of Labor Law 240(1), which means that our law firm's motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability is the first step in obtaining money for an injured worker, who falls from these elevated areas. A helpful link on New York Law that regulates scaffolds -- in particular the law applicable to construction, demolition, and excavation, can be found at http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/safetyhealth/sh23.shtm#23.5.
If you are involved in an accident while working in construction, it is important
to know your legal rights. There are laws in place to protect you and your family
after you are injured on the job. Only an experienced Manhattan construction accident lawyer can fight for your
right to be compensated. You only have one chance to bring a claim; you can't accept some payment now, sign a General Release, and then 5 or 10 years later wake up with additional sequelae of your injuries and ask for more compensation. And all too often, Worker's Compensation is just not enough to cover life-long injuries. Our system is set up to file a claim once for an injury, and get paid once. With over 50 years of combined experience, we have Manhattan construction accident lawyers who can provide the knowledge and experience necessary to obtain compensation
for your accident. Contact us today. The law imposes a deadline by which date you must file a claim for a civil suit which starts ticking the moment you are injured. We are dedicated to fighting building owners and general contractors on crane collapse injuries.
See our Construction Site Accident News Blog for additional resources
on construction news and up-to-date information on New York City area construction
accidents. For more information, see our
Construction Accident FAQs.
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