Would You Know What to Do if Injured on a Construction Site?

If you’re ever injured in a construction accident, the important thing to remember is that temporary disability or workers' compensation benefits will likely be less than the amount you earned while working.

What’s more, there may be an entity other than your employer responsible for your injuries. Safety is a shared responsibility for construction projects. The general contractor has many safety responsibilities. Additionally, there may be a subcontractor who bears responsibility for workers or equipment responsible for your injuries.

In Connecticut, these companies seek to avoid liability at all costs. They will even engineer the early post-accident investigations in their own favor.

In a recent case, a subcontractor of a major medical office building construction project brought defective scaffolding to the worksite. This scaffolding was made available for employees of other subcontractors to use. The problem: The wheel locks on the scaffolding did not effectively stop it from rolling when any force was exerted.

Our client used the scaffolding on a fourth-floor terrace when tragedy struck. He was using a drill against the side of the building. The faulty locks gave way and he and the scaffolding fell 50 feet to the ground below.

Injuries included a shattered pelvis, fractured elbow, upper arm, and a diaphragm injury. The injured worker had access to Worker’s Compensation benefits which paid his medical bills. However, with the wage benefits, he was barely getting by in the years that followed.

The early investigation was completely shaded against the injured worker. However, after three and a half years of discovery with depositions, document requests, and examination of the wheel locks, our firm secured a $1,695,000.00 settlement of his case. The settlement was only achieved after a jury was empaneled and on the day the trial was set to commence.

If you’re ever injured in an accident of any kind, know that the Connecticut personal injury lawyers at RisCassi & Davis have been assisting the injured in Connecticut for over 60 years. And we have received both state and national recognition for our work in this area. If you are ever injured through no fault of your own and would like a completely free consultation with one of our Connecticut personal injury lawyers, please contact us. There is no obligation.