Legal•Info

Texas Construction Accident Lawyer

Construction sites are one of the most dangerous workplaces in the United States. Construction accounts for 20% of the nation's workplace death, even though construction workers only total 6% of United States workers. Heavy equipment, scaffolding and manual labor combine to present many opportunities for injury. If you are an employee who regularly works on construction sites, your employer should have and enforce stringent safety standards. If these fail, however, and an accident occurs and causes you injury, you can apply for benefits from your employer's workers' compensation insurance.

When you are injured on a construction site, you need the services of a construction accident attorney. You can find lawyers who specialize in personal injury cases, or in workers' compensation cases. On occasion, someone who is not an employee is injured due to negligent safety standards on or near a construction site. Whether from a piece of machinery or material falling outside the actual site, or from debris left on the sidewalk during or after a construction project which causes someone to trip and fall, serious injuries can occur even to innocent people. When this happens, finding a personal injury attorney who specializes in construction accidents is crucial.

The construction industry is unique and so are the dangers found there. Defective scaffolding, forklifts, the improper use of either, falling loads due to improper handling, materials left lying around causing tripping or falling, falling structures, or harm caused by equipment are all causes of construction site accidents. Construction site accidents can also be caused by various reasons, which include negligence of other site workers, mistakes and negligence caused by those under the influence of alcohol or drugs, defective machinery, or inappropriate behavior of other site workers. A lawyer familiar with the procedures and jargon of construction and legal issues will likely be beneficial to your case.

It is very important that you report an incident that causes or may cause an injury. If you strain your back, there is nothing wrong with documenting it and reporting it to your supervisor, even if it doesn't seem serious at the time. This is crucial to your case, and there may be time limits involved in reporting accidents. If you wait an extended period to file a claim, evidence may not be as readily accessible to aid your case.

In the case of more serious injury, you may have to fill out paperwork at the ER and notify your employer as soon as you're reasonably able. If you fail to report the incident, and a week later develop pain, it will be more difficult to claim that it is a work-related injury. Once you have reported your injury, you need to contact an attorney who is familiar with construction and workers' compensation, and the sooner the better. Often, construction accident lawyer attorneys will come and meet you in order to speak with your case, if your condition does not allow you to leave the hospital.

If you have sustained only a minor injury that will not affect your employment, you can likely handle it on your own. The difficult aspect is that sometimes a work-related injury may not show its full effects until weeks after the accident actually took place. Therefore, it is always a good idea to contact a lawyer to receive advice, so that they can at least document your injuries if they worsen, in order to help prove it was work-related. For more serious injuries, you'll need a lawyer to deal with the insurance company and the Texas Workers' Compensation Division. You can file to recover current and future medical benefits, lost wages and payment for permanent loss of function.

Contact a Texas construction accident lawyer attorney in order to receive the full compensation you deserve.