New Jersey Construction Accident Attorney
The construction industry employs thousands of workers across the country, enabling the growth of our nation’s roads, businesses and homes. Yet every year, tragic construction site accidents injure, maim and kill thousands of construction workers, drivers, pedestrians and passersby. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a construction accident in the Garden State, speak to a New Jersey construction accident attorney at Meirowitz & Wasserberg, LLP. We help clients seek maximum recovery through all available outlets.
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Should I Hire A New Jersey Construction Accident Lawyer?
Construction accident cases are often extremely complex. A single construction site incident could involve employer liability, workers’ compensation laws, third-party fault, and product or premises liability claims. Hiring an attorney is the best way for you to access important resources, information and assistance that can make the claims process easier on you and your family. The New Jersey personal injury lawyers at Meirowitz & Wasserberg, LLP, came together because of their shared passion for helping injured accident victims. We’re here to help injured construction site workers and passersby in the Garden State.
If you retain our team, we’ll take care of your claim from beginning to end. We’ll immediately take over communications with insurance companies, whether it’s the insurance representative for your employer, your vehicle insurance or someone else’s policy. Our skilled lawyers can make sure insurance claims adjusters don’t take advantage of you. Before you say yes to a quick settlement over the phone, discuss the true value of your claim with one of our New Jersey construction accident attorneys. It may surprise you to find that it’s worth much more than an insurance company is currently offering. We can help you achieve the most for your claim.
Hiring an attorney to represent you will almost always result in a larger compensation award than you could secure on your own. We’ll use our considerable experience and knowledge for your benefit, negotiating higher settlement amounts or taking your claim to the New Jersey courts, if necessary, for full compensation. Our firm works on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay anything unless we win. By taking on all the risk of your case, our attorneys remove the stress of paying for legal representation. You have nothing to lose in hiring one of our construction accident attorneys, but potentially a lot to gain.
Types Of Construction Accident Claims
A construction site can see hundreds of different people per day. Construction workers, independent contractors, site managers, electricians, engineers, drivers, pedestrians, people passing through, all these parties could face potential risks to health and safety from an unreasonably dangerous construction site. It’s up to the construction company, the property owner, and product manufacturers to make construction sites as safe as possible. When they fail in this task, causing negligence-related accidents and injuries, the following types of construction accident claims could arise:
- Workers’ compensation. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the construction industry accounts for the highest percentage of worker fatalities each year. Injuries such as falls, electrocutions, product defects and chemical exposure are all common in construction. Construction worker injuries and deaths while on the job can result in New Jersey workers’ compensation claims. Hiring a New Jersey workers’ compensation lawyer to help you with a workers’ comp claim can help you ensure approval.
- Personal injury. If a nonworker suffers an injury while passing or driving through a construction site, he or she could potentially file a claim against the construction company, the city, an individual person, a property owner, and/or a product manufacturer. Injured bystanders should speak to lawyers about filing personal injury claims for construction site injuries such as slip and falls, auto accidents, struck-by objects and building collapses.
- Product liability. Construction sites rely upon dozens of consumer products, building materials and pieces of equipment. If something such as a ladder, scaffold, lift, telephone pole, electrical component, or heavy machinery malfunctions and causes worker or passerby injury, victims could have grounds to file product liability lawsuits. Manufacturers or distributors could be strictly liable for injuries from defective products. This means injured victims don’t need to prove the defendant’s negligence to qualify for compensation.
- Wrongful death. If a construction site accident results in fatal injuries, surviving loved ones in New Jersey may be eligible for compensation. A successful wrongful death claim proving that someone else’s negligence caused the death could result in recovery for funeral and burial expenses, medical costs until date of death, lost inheritance, lost future earnings, mental anguish and loss of consortium. In New Jersey, a surviving spouse, child, parents, siblings, nieces/nephews or anyone financially dependent on the deceased could file a claim.
A New Jersey construction accident attorney can be a significant bolster for clients of virtually all types of compensation pursuits after serious construction site accidents. Meirowitz & Wasserberg, LLP, handles all types of construction accident claims in New Jersey. We have lawyers and staff on hand with firsthand experience on both simple and complex construction accident lawsuits. No matter what your situation looks like, contact us for assistance. We have what it takes to aggressively advocate for your rights.
New Jersey Construction Accident Statistics
The New Jersey construction industry averaged 141,900 jobs in 2014 — an increase of 3.1% from the previous year. More than 100,000 construction workers live in New Jersey. Edison, New Jersey, sees the greatest number of construction occupations, with 28,430 workers, followed by Newark-Union and Bergen-Hudson-Passaic. More than half of the state’s construction industry consists of “construction and extraction occupations,” with 76,250 workers.
In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 101 work-related fatalities in New Jersey. The private construction industry took the most lives in the state with 20 deaths. Transportation accidents, falls, violence and contact with objects/equipment were the top causes of worker deaths across all industries in the state. Falls were the main cause of death in construction, taking 12 worker’s lives. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of workplace deaths (second to transportation and material moving).
Ongoing construction projects in New Jersey exist in the American Dream Meadowlands, College Avenue in New Brunswick, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Rowan University, and the Pulaski Skyway bridge and causeway system. For drivers and pedestrians who must pass through active construction sites, these areas can be death traps. Equipment left in the roadway, road construction, workers too close to the road, dangerous ditches and falling debris all pose threats to personal safety.
What Are the Construction Industry’s “Fatal Four?”
OSHA recognizes something it calls the Fatal Four in the national construction industry — the four greatest causes of construction worker death. According to statistics from 2016, the Fatal Four accounted for more than half (63.7%) of all construction worker deaths. Eliminating the Fatal Four from construction sites would save an estimated 631 lives every year. It is up to construction companies to recognize the Fatal Four and to take steps to prevent serious and fatal accidents relating to them. The Fatal Four are:
- Falls. Deadly falls took 384 construction worker lives in 2016. Falls accounted for 38.7% of all construction deaths. Lack of fall protection is the number one most frequently cited safety violation in the construction industry. Employers have a legal duty to provide safe working/walking surfaces and fall protection systems to all workers.
- Struck by object. Objects such as building materials, debris, tools and pieces of equipment falling and striking people down below can cause fatal head and brain injuries. Being struck by objects caused 9.4% of all construction worker deaths in 2016, with 93 lives lost. It is up to employers to train workers to properly secure objects when working from higher than five feet in the air, as well as to provide safety helmets for all workers. Falling debris can also injure passersby.
- Electrocution. Electrocutions took 82 lives in 2016 (8.3%). Contact with electrical boxes and components on the job can lead to fatal shocks and electrocutions, as can accidental contact with live electrical wires. Workers should always practice special safety measures when working with or around electrical elements — especially when operating vehicles below power lines.
- Caught-in/between. Machinery or equipment catching or compressing construction workers can lead to fatal crush injuries. Being caught between objects, equipment, material or collapsing structures accounted for 7.3% of construction worker deaths, with 72 fatalities in 2016. Adequate worker training, properly functioning equipment, and machinery guards can help prevent these accidents.
It’s critical for everyone in the construction industry to work together to defeat the Fatal Four. The greatest burden of responsibility falls on the shoulders of employers in the construction industry, whose job it is to properly train, educate, prepare and protect workers. OSHA has dozens of safety rules and recommendations in place to help employers reduce the number of Fatal Four accidents. Failing to comply with OSHA regulations, resulting in worker injury or death, is negligence.
Maximize Your Claim With A Construction Accident Attorney In New Jersey
Knowing who could be liable for your construction site accident typically requires an investigation from police, insurance companies, and/or attorneys. An investigation can discover who or what caused the incident, as well as who owed the victim duties of care at the time of injury. Construction site owners, contractors or manufacturers could face personal injury liability outside of the workers’ compensation system if they were negligent in causing workers’ injuries or if they caused injuries to nonworkers.
The team of attorneys at Meirowitz & Wasserberg, LLP, has the resources to expend on an investigation into your recent construction site accident in New Jersey. We can determine whether one or more parties should be legally responsible for your damages, including medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages, as well as if you have the right to file outside of the workers’ compensation system as an employee. One conversation with us could open your eyes to a much brighter financial future. Discuss your case for free when you call 800-726-6326 or request a consultation online.AVAILABLE 24/7
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Slip and fall injury
$675,000
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$555,000
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