Construction Site Accidents: Who Can Be Held Liable?
This page will center on construction site accidents, as they can be particularly tricky, and if you do not know who to hold accountable, it can be a detriment to your case. Look no further than here to find out everything you need to know.
Contact an Attorney
Before moving on to the particulars of who can be held accountable, it is first important to mention that one must contact an attorney. Unfortunately, due to the fact the age that we live in is dominated by Hollywood blockbusters and pop-culture, many people wrongly believe they can represent themselves in court. Without a length of experience in law, this is a bad idea. The best idea is, instead, to contact an attorney. It can be difficult picking an attorney, but according to this law firm, when you find the right one, you will be on the road to receiving compensation and justice. Look carefully for the law firm that you want to represent you, and if you are on a budget, consider a no-win-no-fee injury attorney.
Liability
Discerning who is liable for your injury at a construction site is a task not easily done, and there are many things we must take into consideration so that we can make an informed judgment. We must first establish the nature of the injury, and whether or not there was any involvement of other people. If your injury was caused by yourself and had no other people involved, nor was it caused by negligence, you may be the person held accountable, and therefore, nobody else can be taken to court for it. There are times when people can be taken to court, however, and here are a few of them:
Intentional Injury
If you are working on a construction site and have had an argument or disagreement with somebody, which then causes that person to hurt you, they can be held accountable in both a criminal and civil trial. An intentional injury would make the person responsible for the injury liable, which is quite simple. This is one of the easiest types of construction site injuries to establish fault for. Intentionally caused injuries are very straight forward. You should phone the police in these instances.
Machinery
If you have been injured by faulty or negligently placed machinery, then it may be the responsibility of the site manager or the manufacturer of the machinery. It is entirely dependent on the situation and subjective to the nature of your injury. Your attorney will be able to brief you as to whose fault it is. If the machinery was lying around and not safely secured, it will likely be the fault of the site-manager for improper storage; if the machinery was faulty, to begin with, then the fault will likely lie with the manufacturer of the machinery. The same goes for tools and other items of equipment, although with tools and other items, the fault mostly lies with the site-manager or the business he represents.
Improper Training
If you have been injured as a consequence of improper training, then the fault will lie with the business or site manager. As an employee at a construction site, you are expected to be trained to the highest degree to minimize any injury and to ensure your job can be carried out effectively and efficiently. If you are not trained properly, then it will be the site-managers fault, and he will be held accountable. It is the site-managers responsibility to ensure all of the staff working on the construction site are trained thoroughly and cannot hurt themselves or other people through negligence. It is important for your safety, too, that you only work in a place you are trained to do so, even if your site-manager will allow you to work there without training.
Now, with the help of this page, you should know a little more about who can be held accountable after an injury sustained on a construction site. There are, of course, many other potential people to be held at fault, but that is again, subjective to your injury. Your attorney should be able to help you establish who was really at fault.