Building and maintaining infrastructure, housing, and other developments is one of the keys to keeping any community growing and thriving, including Dover. Construction workers play an integral role in this process. However, construction workers are often subjected to dangerous working conditions where injuries are all too common.
When you have been injured on a construction site, you deserve quick and fair compensation for your injury to help you get back on your feet as soon as possible. A Dover construction accident lawyer from Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz, and Bhaya can help you ensure that happens.
Common Injuries on Construction Sites
Construction sites involve many different jobs, roles, and activities. Because of this, there are a wide variety of injuries that commonly arise during the course of employment, which can include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis, both partial and complete
- Compound fractures
- Severe burns and lacerations
- Electrocution
- Repetitive or overuse injuries
- Illness or disease from exposure to toxic substances or chemicals
Each of these injuries is unique and requires different medical care, rehabilitation, and time away from work to recover. Each of these injuries also will have varying financial impacts and different effects on the worker’s quality of life after the incident. An experienced Dover attorney who regularly represents injured construction workers understands these differences and can help make sure that the legal solutions and financial compensation pursued are both appropriate and personal to the injured worker’s situation, not the average or typical construction injury.
Methods to Recover Compensation
After an injury at a construction site, there are several different avenues through which the injured worker may be able to receive compensation. Knowing which options are available, and which are potentially the most beneficial, depends on the context of the injury. Working with a construction injury lawyer in Dover is the best practice to ensure that the most effective option is pursued.
Workers’ Compensation Claims
For example, Delaware has passed laws requiring the vast majority of employers in the state to carry Workers’ Compensation insurance. Although there are a few exceptions in limited situations, Delaware Code tit. 19 §2304 makes Workers’ Compensation the exclusive remedy for people who are hurt during their employment.
Workers’ Compensation can be beneficial to employees in some situations because the requirements to be entitled to a payout are relatively easy to meet. Most importantly, those requirements do not involve proving that the employer did anything wrong. The trade-off, however, is that payments through Workers’ Compensation can, in some instances, be more limited than would be available otherwise, as they do not allow for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering.
Third-Party Injury Claims
Although Workers’ Compensation prevents, in most situations, an employee from suing their employer, it is common for there to be multiple companies, contractors, and vendors all operating at a construction site at the same time. If the person or entity that caused a construction worker’s injury was someone other than that construction worker’s direct employer, then a traditional lawsuit may be available to recover damages from the third party. Unlike Worker’s Compensation, a lawsuit requires the injured person to prove the responsible party bears fault in some way, most commonly by showing that the responsible party acted negligently. The potential damages available in a lawsuit might be higher than those benefits available in a Workers’ Compensation claim in some situations as a lawsuit allows an injured person to receive non-economic damages such as pain and suffering and, in some rare circumstances, punitive damages. These types of claims can involve the workers compensation carrier asserting a lien on the third-party claim recovery. You need competent counsel to help you navigate the maze of rules and laws involved in such cases.
Reach Out to a Construction Attorney in Dover Today
It can be difficult to recover from any injury, but an injury received at a construction site can have an impact on your ability to earn income in the future. Therefore, receiving the compensation you deserve is of the utmost importance. A skilled attorney can help review and analyze your case to ensure you pursue the proper legal method of recovery and that the compensation is adequate for your needs after the injury.
Schedule an initial consultation with a Dover construction accident lawyer from Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz, and Bhaya to learn more.
