Hartford Construction Accident Lawyer

There’s a reason why construction sites are required to warn passers-by of debris. There’s a reason why everyone who enters them has to wear safety equipment, often even outside work hours or work status.

Construction sites are hazardous places thanks to moving machinery, heavy transport loads, and any number of other factors depending on the project. This danger is the reason why federal and state programs like OSHA exist and enforce strict rules.

Despite these safety regulations, accidents do happen; sometimes, tragedy befalls passing pedestrians, and sometimes, it happens to workers on-site. These accidents can easily derail the lives of victims, leaving them stacked with medical bills and days of missed work, compounding the problem.

Getting back on your feet after such an event is no mean task; sometimes, you may need help. If legal aid is what you need, you can turn to the expert Hartford construction accident lawyers at Bert McDowell Injury Law.

Hartford Construction Accident Attorney

A Hartford attorney can serve as your guide throughout the process of a construction accident claim. They can ensure you get a fair offer for your injuries in the aftermath of the tragedy at a construction site.

Your lawyer will investigate your losses and find out exactly what you are owed. They will build a case around the evidence they discover and negotiate with the insurance provider to ensure you are given what you need to recover.

In the event you are not compensated fairly, your attorney can also bring your case to court. This will usually be sufficient to convince the insurance company to make a better offer, but if it isn’t, your lawyer will fight for you in front of a judge and jury in order to get the maximum payout you deserve.

Common Construction Accidents

Some accidents on construction sites tend to be more common than others. These accidents are often categorized into one of four types.

These “Fatal Four” construction hazard types do not cover all events that may occur on a construction site, though they do encompass most accidents one can expect to encounter in a hard hat area. These accidents also happen to account for a majority of accidents in such places.

Falls

All construction sites involve standing on heights (with safety procedures, of course, but heights nonetheless). Falling from these heights is the single leading cause of death in hard hat areas, which makes sense given that OSHA’s most commonly cited job site violation was for fall protection as recently as 2021.

For context, in that year, OSHA cited 5,465 violations for fall protection, more than double the amount of the next most cited violation, which was for ladder safety (2,096). In fact, of the top 10 citations in 2021, more than half can be argued to increase the risk of workers falling and getting injured or killed.

Struck-by Accidents

Falling objects, moving equipment and machinery, and swinging loads are ever-present threats to safety on a construction site. Impact by blunt objects such as buckets of cement or I-beams can lead to head trauma or crush injuries, often as a result of blows with sufficient force to break bones.

Sharp objects can also strike personnel at work on a construction site, with consequences just as severe, if not worse than, blunt objects. Punctures and lacerations are common examples of these, and, in the worst cases, struck-by accidents involving sharp objects lead to amputations.

Caught-Between Accidents

This is a category of mishaps that occur when a person is compressed between two or more objects. Injuries resulting from caught-between accidents can result from the force of the compression itself or from a collision with another object that the unfortunate worker is unable to avoid due to being held in place.

Caught-between accidents are most frequently encountered when a victim is trapped by machinery or when parts of a structure collapse on them. Moving vehicles may also lead to caught-between accidents, though these are less common, especially when construction vehicle safety protocol is followed.

Electrocution

When an electric current passes through a person’s body, the charge overwhelms the weak electrical signals that are required for the nervous system to function. This disrupts function along the path the current takes and can be lethal when it passes through vital areas such as the heart.

The severity of an electric shock primarily depends on the following factors:

• Voltage: Voltage is the difference between two points in an electrical circuit. Essentially, electricity flows from a point of high energy (the wire) to a point of low energy (the person). In simpler terms, it can be thought of as the “pressure” that pushes electric charges through a conductor; larger voltages mean more current is sent through the body, leading to greater damage.
• Current: This, and not voltage, is what directly determines the severity of an electric shock and is a measure of the actual amount of electricity moving along a circuit. We can use a downhill road as an analogy; the slope represents the voltage, where a steeper slope means a faster flow, and the number of cars traveling on it represents the current, where more cars mean a greater flow.

• • • This is why low-voltage electricity may still be lethal if the amperage is high.

• Pathway: The path a current takes through the body determines which parts are exposed to the energy. The most dangerous paths for electricity to take usually involve a person’s hands and/or feet; this is because currents that take these paths pass through the heart as they travel from one limb to the next, potentially disrupting heartbeat and/or breathing.

• Duration: Going back to our car analogy, we can consider the duration of contact as the amount of time that the road was open; the shorter the period of contact with electricity, the fewer cars can enter the road. This means, generally speaking, the odds of survival increase as the duration of the shock decreases.

Other factors come into play as well, including the individual’s health and susceptibility to shock. Workers with preexisting health issues may, for instance, be more vulnerable to milder currents than the average healthy worker.

Injuries Sustained in Construction Accidents

Each of the Fatal Four can lead to different injuries, some possible across multiple categories and some unique to each.

• Broken Bones: Fractures can range from partial breaks to complete fragmentation of bones. They often take longer to heal than other injuries.

• Head Trauma: Mild TBIs can be managed and treated with rest, medication, and rehabilitation. However, more serious head trauma can have long-lasting effects that affect a person’s cognitive functioning and may even lead to permanent disabilities.

• Spinal Cord Injuries: Falling on your back can cause damage to the spinal column. An injured spine can disrupt function anywhere below the injury.

• Internal Injuries: Damage to internal organs can result from the force of a fall, an impact, or from sustained pressure of external objects.

• Puncture Wounds and Lacerations: These most commonly result from struck-by accidents but may also occur when falling on sharp objects or when a fractured bone penetrates the skin.

• Electrical Burns: These are unlike regular burns as they can deal internal damage to tissues, sometimes taking days to manifest symptoms. Electrical burn severity does not always correlate with the size of the external damage and can run the entire length of the current’s path with distinct entry and exit points.

• Neurological Damage: An electric charge can overload the brain and nervous system, leading to damaged nerves. The long-term effects of neurological damage can include paralysis, potentially leaving victims bedridden for the rest of their lives.

• Muscle Spasms: Muscles lose control when an electric current stronger than the body’s signals passes through them. These spasms can last even after the current has stopped, which can be lethal, as in the case of cardiac arrest.

Whichever of these injuries you sustain, it’s important to address them as soon as possible. Although the statute of limitations for most accidents in the state gives victims two or three years depending on circumstances, accidents at the workplace in Connecticut fall under workers’ compensation, which only typically affords victims one year for injury.

That means if you were working on site when you were injured, you only have half the time to file a claim compared to if you were a bystander injured by falling debris.

Handling a claim is difficult on its own; handling a claim while recovering from a construction accident injury with an impending time limit can be downright impossible. Working with a Hartford construction accident lawyer might be the only surefire path to compensation a victim has.

Choose Bert McDowell Injury Law When You Need a Hartford Construction Accident Law Firm

Bert McDowell Injury Law is ready to be your aid in the hardships you face after a construction accident.

We serve the city of Hartford with the goal of helping those who struggle to get back on track after tragedy. Since our founding, we have recovered tens of millions of dollars for our clients, and we look forward to doing the same for you.

Call Bert McDowell Injury Law today at (203) 590-9169 and schedule your free compensation today.