Our firm has first-hand experience in the construction industry. As a young man, Alfred Mainetti worked as a union apprentice bricklayer, and has intricate knowledge of the dangers and challenges that a career in the construction field can pose. If you or a loved one was injured on the job, we have decades of knowledge and experience in representing and obtaining compensation for injured construction workers.
For local numbers on construction and warehouse injuries, and when someone other than your employer can be held responsible, see our Hudson Valley workplace injury guide.
In a construction injury case, there are a number of reasons a party can be held responsible for an accident, including:
Inadequate fall protection
Poor hazard communication
Insufficient scaffolding or ladders
Nonexistent or faulty machine guarding
Unsafe electrical wiring
Intentional dangerous acts
We Are Experienced Kingston, NY and Poughkeepsie-Based Construction Accident Attorneys
We’ll help you identify where the neglect, negligence or violation occurred that caused you to get injured and we will get you the maximum compensation for your injuries.
We Aggressively Represent Construction Victims
Electrocution Accidents
Electrocutions can happen to many kinds of construction workers, including welders, machine operators, carpenters, bricklayers, painters, and more. If you work in construction, you have a high risk; not only are there there are overhead power lines, but when drilling through walls, cramming into crawl spaces, or going through attics and basements. You could suffer from severe burns, nerve damage, brain damage, or broken bones. Liability for the employer could come from inadequate training, mislabeled wires, or faulty equipment.
Lift/Forklift Accidents
Whether you or a loved one fell from a forklift, were in a forklift at overturned, hit by a forklift being driven by another person, crushed by a load that was set down, had an improperly balanced load drop on you, or were not warned by a supervisor or peer that you were working in an area with a forklift, we have a track record for aggressively and effectively representing workers. Negligence can come in many forms, whether from an employer that improperly trained workers, negligence by a driver, or the faulty manufacture and servicing of forklift equipment by a manufacturer or repair service.
OSHA Violations
Employers are supposed to create a safe work environment, but they may not always fulfill their responsibilities to follow the law in the wake of a workplace accident. They’re supposed to report all catastrophes and deaths to OSHA within eight hours, in person or by phone. And if you’re injured and need worker’s compensation, your employer’s insurance company may attempt to prove your claim to be invalid, or pay you less than you’re entitled to. If your employer isn’t holding up their end of the bargain in the wake of an injury and OSHA violation, we’re here to help.
Scaffolding & Ladder Injuries
There are several types of scaffolding that are commonly used on job sites: tubular steel scaffolding, baker or rolling scaffolding, pole scaffolding and wood. All have their own safety statutes and regulations, and if you’ve been injured in a scaffold-related accident, whether as a worker or as a passerby, you deserve representation that knows the ins and outs of the law. There are lots of questions to ask in any scaffolding case: what planking or supports were there? Were there guard rails with sufficient tubing? Were casters and wheel locks properly applied? Was there sufficient cross-bracing of a pole scaffold? Were the scaffolds adequately inspected? To start talking about your scaffold case, give us a call now at 845-600-0000.
Falls and Injuries from Slippery Conditions
New York State law clearly states that the onus of maintaining a safe work environment falls on general contractors and property owners at given job sites. There are many specific statutes that govern the width of ramps, the safety of elevated areas, the cleanup of debris, safety precautions to take during inclement weather, and more. Your employer should provide training in fall prevention strategies. If you slip and fall on the job, you should be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, and if there was a third party like a contractor on the job as well, they may be partially responsible for additional benefits in addition to your workers’ compensation.
Third-Party Claims
If you were injured on the job in a construction accident, your workers’ compensation benefits may be covering some of the initial expenses and wages that you’re losing out on. However, it may not be adequate in covering all of your damages, and there was a third party contractor, subcontractor, property owner or other party involved in your accident, they may have been negligent in violating safety laws that contributed to your accident. If you suffered injuries like brain damage, spinal injuries, or a neck/back injury, workers’ compensation simply isn’t enough. Contact us now at 845-600-0000 to tell us about your situation.
New York’s Labor Law: Why Construction Cases Are Different
Workers’ compensation is usually the only remedy against your own employer. Construction is the exception. New York’s Labor Law gives construction workers protections that can put the property owner and the general contractor, and their insurers, on the hook as well.
Section 240(1), the “Scaffold Law,” covers gravity-related accidents: falls from ladders, scaffolds and roofs, and objects falling onto a worker from above. On a commercial site, the owner and general contractor can be held fully liable for a gravity accident even if the worker contributed to it. It is their job to make sure the right equipment is on site, in working order, properly placed and properly used.
Section 241(6) covers violations of the state’s specific site-safety regulations, from guardrails to trenching to debris.
Equipment manufacturers can also be liable for defective machinery.
The Labor Law mostly applies to commercial work, but not only. Owners of one- and two-family homes are generally exempt — unless they directed and controlled the work, or the property is really a commercial venture, such as a house being renovated to flip rather than live in.
The statute of limitations is three years, but evidence on a construction site disappears fast: the scaffold comes down, the site changes, witnesses move on to the next job. Call before that happens.
