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Are you struggling with injuries after you were hurt in an NYC construction accident? An experienced New York City construction accident lawyer at the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers can help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact us at (212) 564 2800 to get started today.
Our award-winning legal team has more than 25 years of litigation experience. We stand up to insurance companies, wealthy NYC property owners, and corporate entities with deep pockets for injured workers in the metropolis every day – and help them win life-changing compensation for their injuries. We’re here to give you the edge you need to win, too.
If you were hurt and want to learn more about your legal rights, contact our law firm in New York. Your initial case evaluation is always 100% free. You may have several options for recovering compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
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Construction accidents can devastate the victim. Serious injuries require serious treatment–and that can cost a lot of money. You might never be able to work in the same capacity again.
Many work accident victims think workers’ compensation is their only option. That’s not always the case. Our NYC personal injury lawyers will investigate your case to see whether you’re entitled to additional compensation.
When you choose the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel, LLC, you’ll have an attorney who will:
Our legal team has represented injured working persons across New York for more than two decades. We’re here to put that experience to work for you. One of the practice areas we have more expertise in is construction accidents.
To learn more, contact us to schedule a free case review.
Construction is one of the most dangerous jobs to have in the city. Despite the fact that construction workers make up about 5% of the city’s workforce, they account for more than a quarter (27%) of all work-related deaths every year.
Statistics show that one out of every four workplace fatalities in NYC involves a construction worker. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), that’s higher than the national average – about 20%.
According to the Department of Buildings, in 2021 there were 502 construction-related accidents, 505 injuries, and only 9 deaths. As of February 28th, 2022, there were 64 construction-related accidents, 64 injuries, and 1 fatality. At least 77 construction workers were killed and another 4,083 were injured on worksites throughout the city between 2015 and 2022 (as of 2/28/22). Manhattan is, by far, the most dangerous place to work on a job site in the Big Apple – accounting for half of all construction-related deaths and nearly two-thirds of all worksite injuries.
Our NYC construction accident attorneys at the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel, LLC handle cases involving all types of construction site cases, including:
If you or a loved one were injured on a New York worksite, don’t hesitate to reach out for legal advice.
In a city like New York, something is almost always under construction. Given how many construction sites there are and how often accidents happen, New York has made it a point to write laws to make job sites and workers safe. These laws also dictate who might be liable if there’s an accident and a worker gets hurt.
New York Labor Law Section 200 explains that property owners and general contractors must “provide reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health and safety of all persons employed therein or lawfully frequenting such places.” In other words – whoever owns the construction site or is tasked with overseeing and running the project has to make sure that construction laborers have a safe place to work.
If an owner or general contractor fails to comply with state or federal safety regulations, neglects to provide adequate safety equipment, or cuts corners to save costs and puts workers at risk, then they can be legally and financially responsible if there’s an accident.
Scaffolding is an integral component of just about any construction project in New York. They’re temporary structures erected to provide access to high points on a job site, support workers, hold materials. Given their temporary nature and the fact that they can reach great heights, scaffold also tends to be quite dangerous.
Section 240 of New York’s Labor Law addresses some important safety and accountability issues.
The law provides guidelines for how scaffolding and different types of equipment must be erected, fastened, and secured on a construction site. It also states that property holders and/or general contractors, in particular, can be strictly liable if these requirements aren’t met and workers get hurt.
Workers might have a legal claim for damages under New York’s scaffolding law if they’re injured while working on scaffold or other tools, including:
Liability can attach whenever a worker is injured in the course of building, demolishing, repairing, altering, painting, or cleaning an edifice or structure.
Anyone who owns or operates a New York construction site is required to take steps to keep workers safe on the job. Unfortunately, many construction site holders put a lot of pressure on workers to get the job done more quickly–and for less money. That tends to encourage safety violations on the job site.
When it comes to construction site fatalities, OSHA data reveals that there are four leading causes.
Known as the “fatal four” they include:
Together, these types of accidents account for nearly two-thirds of all construction accident deaths in the United States.
Other common causes of construction incidents resulting in injury and death in NYC include:
These issues can lead to a variety of serious accidents.
Construction accident victims have two alternatives for recovering compensation.
They can:
Some wounded workers may be entitled to damages in a lawsuit and collect workers’ comp benefits.
The value of your workers’ compensation benefits is limited by New York state law. You can get damages for all reasonable and necessary medical expenses.
However, the value of your lost income depends upon a formula based on:
For example, a worker who is 100% disabled would have the right to about ⅔ of their average weekly wages prior to the accident. A worker who is only 50% disabled and able to work in some capacity would receive about half that amount.
If you’re a construction worker and believe someone other than your employer caused the accident, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit for damages. This is called a third-party claim.
The value of your claim depends upon many things, including:
Insurance companies will try to tell you what your case is worth from the beginning. You don’t have to let them establish the value of your case. Contact our New York City construction accident attorneys to learn more about how we can help.
You typically cannot sue your employer after an on-the-job injury. Your main source of compensation after a workplace accident will be workers’ comp. However, workers’ comp is a no-fault system.
Under workers’ comp, you get automatic medical and wage replacement benefits without having to demostrate who was at-fault for your injury. In exchange, you give up your right to take your employer to court.
However, if your company doesn’t have workers’ compensation insurance, you can hold them responsible for your workplace injury. Likewise, you may be able to take legal action your employer if they subjected you to unsafe working conditions or made you use insecure equipment.
If you’re entitled to present a lawsuit, you can get compensation for these economic damages. You can also secure an award for non-economic damages.
This includes things like:
Victims can also get economic damages for:
If you think that someone other than your employer was responsible for the work accident, reach out to our law firm now. We’d be happy to sit down with you to discuss your legal alternatives.
If you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit, you can get money as long as someone else shares in the blame. New York is a pure comparative negligence state. That means everyone is responsible for their share of the damages after an accident. If you share some of the blame, your reimbursement will be reduced to reflect that.
It’s smart to work with an NYC construction accident attorney so that you have the best chance to deflect claims of fault and maximize your recovery.
Construction site injuries can be extremely serious.
At the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel, LLC, we represent construction site accident victims who have sustained:
If you were hurt on a construction site, you don’t have to handle the legal process alone. Reach out to our legal team to learn more about how we can help with your injury case.
It depends on the cause of action for your lawsuit.
If you’re a construction worker who was injured because of dangerous conditions related to scaffolding or other job-site equipment covered under Section 240 of the Labor Law, then the owner or general contractor can be strictly liable.
If you were injured because of a defective product, then the company that sold, built, or designed the tool or equipment can be strictly liable.
Strict liability means someone is responsible regardless of the degree of care they used or the lengths to which they went to keep you safe. If you get hurt, they’re liable. You’ll just have to prove that the scaffolding or defective product contributed to your injury while you were working.
To file a lawsuit or claim for compensation, you have to demostrate that someone was negligent and caused your accident.
Potentially responsible third parties in the construction industry include:
Each of these parties is held to a certain standard of care. Negligence, or carelessness, is a violation of that standard.
If we can prove that this breach caused your injuries, you have the right to get compensation for your damages.
You might wonder how we’ll get the proof we need.
Our NYC construction accident attorneys will:
Every case is different. When you hire our NYC construction accident lawyers, you can rest assured that we’ll do everything we can to find out what happened in your case.
Not everyone injured on a construction site is a worker. Construction sites create a hazardous situation for innocent bystanders, too. When a building is under construction – either entirely or in part – home owners have an obligation to make the area as safe as possible for invited and expected guests.
This might mean putting up barriers to prevent people from accessing certain parts of the estate, placing warning signs in the area, or ensuring that workers are cleaning up debris and keeping the worksite as clean as possible.
If an owner fails to oversee the project, they could be on the hook for damages in a premises liability lawsuit.
The deadline is three years from the date of the accident. That means if you don’t file a lawsuit within three years, you’ll lose your right to compensation.
To claim workers’ compensation benefits, you should notify your employer about the accident as soon as possible. You technically have 30 days to notify your supervisor. You’ll also have to formally file a claim within two years of the incident.
Are you a construction worker who was hurt on a New York construction site? Did you lose a family member in a fatal construction accident?
Contact an experienced New York City construction accident lawyer at the Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel, LLC for a free consultation today.
Our law firm is dedicated to getting the biggest verdicts and settlements for our clients across NYC and Long Island, give us a phone call today.
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