Construction Worker Injuries

4 Things to Do after a Construction Site Accident

March 25, 2021 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

A building under construction It’s no secret that construction sites are among the most dangerous working environments. An employer or contractor’s seemingly minor blunder or negligent act could lead to an accident and, in turn, result in injuries or death to one or more individuals. If you work in construction sites, you’re probably well aware of the dangers and risks you’re exposed to at work. With this in mind, it’s crucial to know what to do in the unfortunate event that you experience an accident at a construction site. Here are four things to do following a construction site accident – for more information, call us today to speak with an Atlanta construction site accident lawyer.

1. Get Medical Attention Right Away

The first thing you should do after getting injured at a construction site is to seek medical help as soon as possible. This is very vital even if you think that you only have minor injuries because, in most cases, symptoms of severe injuries may not appear until several hours or even days after an accident.

Can You Sue after a Work-Related Injury?

August 21, 2019 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

A construction worker For most of us, road construction is a major headache, causing delays in our daily commutes. Unfortunately, we rarely think about the hazards that construction workers face in simply doing their jobs. A simple accident caused by an absent-minded driver can result in serious injury and even death.

The Atlanta personal injury attorneys at Slappey & Sadd have been helping injured people across the state of Georgia since 1992. We help construction workers who have been injured get the compensation they deserve so that you can take care of your family, recover from your injuries, and ultimately get back to work. If you’ve been injured in an accident and don’t know what to do, contact us at 888-474-9616 to schedule a free consultation and discuss how we can help you.

Worker’s Comp vs. Third-Party Claims

What Types of Cases Does a Personal Injury Attorney Handle?

February 28, 2019 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

Many A man with a suit hold a piece of paper that says "lawsuit" people think of personal injury attorneys purely in terms of car accident cases. The truth is that a personal injury attorney can help you in any situation where you have been injured through someone else’s fault. Serious injuries can have life-altering consequences. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you protect your future by seeking fair compensation for your injuries and other losses.

Unintentional Torts: Cases Involving Negligence

Personal injury attorneys handle tort cases – cases that involve an action or failure to act that resulted in harm to another person. Tort cases are civil cases, which means that the plaintiff is seeking a money judgment in order to receive compensation for their losses and injuries.

Accidents and Back Injuries

February 13, 2019 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

A silhouette on a man bending over holding his back. It’s quite common to hurt your back in an accident. Unfortunately, unless they experience a back injury that requires hospitalization, too many people ignore their back injury and assume that it will get better over time. They subsequently discover, often too late, that their injury is more serious than they thought and will require extensive medical treatment in order to make a full recovery.

Common Causes of Back Injuries

Back injuries can be caused in many different ways and sometimes in ways you wouldn’t expect. We’ve helped thousands of clients recover compensation from back injuries caused by the following accidents:

Construction Site Accidents – They Happen More Often Than You Think

September 10, 2018 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

A simple Google search turns up three reports of construction site accidents for the month of August: one involving a GDOT employee in Atlanta, another at a Georgia Water and Power site, and a third where three workers were injured at another power plant in Madison County. We all know construction sites are dangerous, but we don’t often consider how dangerous they are – both for the workers, and the public at large.

Premises Liability and the General Public

There are numerous hazards on any given construction site – broken and uneven pavement, open pits, holes, and unstable structures, all of which could cause serious bodily injury. Construction companies, therefore, owe a duty to the public to ensure that the work site does not pose a hazard to passersby and the general public. As a result, construction companies are obligated to post signs warning of potential hazards, such as “keep out,” “authorized personnel only,” and “do not enter.” In addition, they must keep the site secure by means of fencing, barriers, locked gates, and other means from preventing entry. Construction sites are especially attractive to children, and so particular attention must be paid to keeping them out.

Construction Site Injuries

July 28, 2018 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

Despite modern safety equipment and government regulations, construction sites are still a very dangerous place to work. Construction workers can’t work when they’re injured so these accidents can be extremely problematic on a number of levels. In addition to your lost wages, what about your medical bills? How are you going to pay your mortgage or put food on the table? And what if you’re permanently disabled? There are a number of complicated questions that surround these injuries. If you’ve been injured in a construction accident, you should at least consider talking with a lawyer in order to understand your options.

Worker’s Compensation vs. Personal Injury

Thankfully, worker’s compensation benefits are available in most cases, but most people don’t understand what worker’s comp covers and what it does not. Furthermore, in most cases, filing a claim for worker’s compensation prohibits you from suing your employer for personal injury. As a result, it’s important to understand the difference between a personal injury claim and worker’s compensation and a personal injury lawsuit. We’ve provided the table below to help illustrate the differences between these two types of claims.

Power Lines Can Seriously Injure Construction Workers

July 9, 2017 | by Slappey & Sadd, LLC

Recently, several construction companies in Washington State were fined by the state’s Department of Labor & Industries for safety violations after a crane made contact with high-voltage power lines. An estimated 14 kilovolts traveled down the crane’s hoist line to the men working below the power lines, seriously injuring two of them. For reference, 14 kilovolts is equal to 14,000 volts. A standard electrical socket in the United States uses 120 volts. Thus, the men who were injured in this case suffered an electrical shock that was roughly 116 times as strong as one would receive from inserting one’s finger in an electrical socket. How did this happen, though? Aren’t there safety precautions in place to protect construction workers from dangerous electrical shocks when working near power lines? The answer is yes, but the sad truth is that many construction companies do not follow these standards.

Safety Code Violations Lead to Injuries

The state of Washington requires that power lines near construction sites using cranes be moved underground for the duration of the construction. The Department of Labor & Industries investigators found that the power lines in this case had been scheduled to be moved underground, but, instead of waiting for that work to be done, the construction companies continued to work under them. Further investigation revealed that the companies’ employees were not trained or aware of the dangers of working under power lines. As a result, the companies were cited for several workplace safety violations, including both “serious” and “willful” violations. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that worker death or serious physical harm could result from a hazardous condition. A willful violation is one in which the state investigators find evidence of plain indifference or an intentional disregard for a hazard or rule. As a result of the severity of the injuries the workers suffered, as well as the egregiousness of the companies’ safety violations, they have been identified as “severe violators” and will be subject to follow-up inspections to ensure that safety regulations are being enforced.