Adoption 101: The Legal Fundamentals

How To Seek Compensation When Injured On A Construction Site

11 December 2014

Brayden Miles

If you have found yourself injured on a construction job, you may wonder how you go about receiving compensation for your injuries. While workers compensation will cover your injuries if you are employed by someone, you may be in a bit of a tight position if you were working as an independent contractor. Workers compensation is only for those who are consider employees of a business, so there is no protection for independent contractors. However, that does not mean you don't have any options, and this article will outline the options you may need to consider.

Liability Insurance From Project Owner

If you have been sub-contracted by someone to work on a construction project, that business was hired by the project owner. Anyone who is in charge of a construction project must have liability insurance. This is insurance that is meant to protect the project owner in the event that something goes wrong, but it will also protect individuals who are on the construction site legally. So if someone was working on site as a sub-contractor or visiting the site for inspection or another reason, in the event they were injured while on site, they would be covered under the project owner's liability insurance policy. 

Product Liability

If you were injured because a piece of scaffolding collapsed, if a ladder did not hold you as it should have, or if the piece of machinery you were using malfunctioned, you may file a product liability lawsuit. This lawsuit would be filed against the company who manufactured the piece of equipment, the company who sold the equipment, and even may be filed against the company who purchased the equipment. 

In a product liability lawsuit, you will need to prove that the product's malfunction was the reason you were injured, so you will need to retain a number of different expert witnesses in order for you to be successful in your lawsuit.

Also, it's important to note that in the event you do have workers compensation coverage, you can still implement a product liability lawsuit as well as file for workers compensation. No matter the type of compensation lawsuit you will be filing, it's important that you retain an attorney that will be able to assist you. If you do have workers compensation, you'll want to retain a lawyer experienced in workers compensation claims. Otherwise, hire a personal injury or product liability lawyer to help you out.

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