Scaffolding accidents pose a threat to construction site workers. Jobs such as roofing require workers to perform their jobs at extreme heights. Such elevated heights give rise to environments in which scaffolding accident fatalities and injuries occur.

These accidents can cause intense pain and suffering for you and your loved ones. When this happens, our attorneys at The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm in Los Angeles are available to help you. Our skilled lawyers can offer legal advice and advocacy that yield the best possible result in an unpleasant and sometimes tragic scenario.

What are Scaffold Accidents?

Scaffolds are makeshift structures that construction site workers make use of to hoist equipment, materials, and themselves. If you've never used scaffolding, you've most likely seen the intricate network of aluminum or metal pipes stacked against tall buildings and been relieved you weren't trying to balance on it.

Even though these scaffolds are important in construction, they can be dangerous if not used as they should. The majority of scaffold accidents end in severe injuries or fatalities because scaffolds are intended to reach levels that would normally be too elevated to reach. Scaffolding accidents could also cause injuries such as spinal cord injuries, brain trauma, and fractured bones.

Common Causes of Scaffolding Accidents

The most common scaffolding injuries include:

  • Poorly Constructed Scaffolds

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) puts in place high standards that oversee the staging and construction of scaffolds. These standards ensure that construction site workers assemble scaffolds correctly. This in turn guarantees the well-being of other users of the platform.

  • Employer and Worker Negligence

On top of erecting scaffolds following OSHA guidelines, construction site workers must exercise caution when using these platforms. Any negligent act involving a scaffold—that is, any action or inaction that infringes the employee's duty of reasonable care could lead to catastrophic accidents.

When a worker overburdens a scaffold, fails to make sure connections are secure, or generally acts negligently while another worker is on or near the scaffold, the structure's stability could be jeopardized, and it could come crashing down.

Scaffolding accidents could also be brought on by employers' negligence. Employers in the construction industry have a responsibility to maintain OSHA's safety standards and any applicable state laws, just like their employees do.

Employers may do something that jeopardizes the safety of their workers, such as using the wrong scaffolding materials, disregarding necessary training, or offering insufficient fall protection. The employer may be responsible for the losses incurred by the employees if any accidents or fatalities arise as a result of his or her negligence.

  • Falling Objects or Debris

Employers and construction site workers must take precautions to keep those on the site safe from falling debris and objects. A worker's negligence could result in an item falling off a scaffold and striking someone below. OSHA reports that 518 deaths occurred in 2019 as a result of being hit by an equipment object while at work.

  • Electrocution Accidents

Scaffolding can place employees at approximately the same level as power lines, which are intended to remain well above the land surface to protect people. When compared to working near or on the ground, the likelihood of a power cable reaching scaffolding or electrocuting someone on it is substantially higher.

Common Injuries Sustained By Workers on Scaffolds

To receive compensatory damages for the implications of the accident, it is crucial for injury victims as well as their legal teams to identify these unseen psychological and emotional traumas.

Preventing Scaffold Accidents

If OSHA's scaffolding safety standards were followed, many injuries and deaths could be avoided. These rules demand that:

  • Scaffolding should be put up on a firm foundation and should be sound, stiff, and capable of supporting its weight in addition to 4 times the intended load. This should be done without displacement or settling
  • Never use unstable materials (such as barrels, crates, concrete blocks, or loose bricks) to hold planks or scaffolds
  • Whenever a scaffold is raised, moved, disassembled, or adjusted, it must always be supervised by a qualified and experienced person
  • Mid rails, guard rails, and toe boards must be included on scaffolds for fall protection
  • It is essential to replace or repair any defective or damaged scaffolding parts, including ladders, trusses, screw legs, braces, and brackets
  • Platforms made of planks must be fastened and tightened using scaffold plank material or another equivalent material
  • A skilled and knowledgeable person must examine and re-inspect scaffolds at regular intervals
  • To make sure that all attachments are secure and there is no deterioration, the rigging on suspensions should be assessed by a qualified person before every shift and during any incident that could compromise the structural integrity
  • Ropes made of natural and synthetic materials used in suspending scaffolds must be shielded from sources of heat
  • Workers need to be made aware of the risks associated with using diagonal bracing for fall protection
  • Scaffolding must be reachable through ladders and stairways
  • The distance between scaffolds and power lines should always be at least 10 feet

The following are among the most common injuries brought on by scaffold accidents:

  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Back or neck injuries
  • Concussions
  • Whiplash
  • Scarring or deformity
  • Serious gashes or wounds
  • Spinal cord damage, including paralysis
  • Loss of or damaged body organs
  • Internal bleeding
  • Amputations or crush wounds

Workers who suffer from scaffolding injuries could also experience severe psychological and emotional distress along with these devastating physical injuries. This could involve feeling stressed, anxious, and afraid, as well as PTSD symptoms that last for a long time after their physical wounds have healed.

Liability For Scaffold Accidents

A significant portion of injuries on construction sites is caused by scaffold accidents. Workers in the construction industry run the risk of falling from heights, falling on scaffolds from faulty construction, and being hit by heavy equipment and building supplies that fall from scaffolds.

The following parties could be held accountable for injuries brought on by scaffolding accidents:

  • Employer of the injured worker
  • The manufacturer
  • The scaffold installer
  • The managers
  • The project's general contractor and other subcontractors
  • The manager or owner of the site

Employer Liability

According to OSHA guidelines, a construction site worker's employer is required to establish a work environment that is devoid of major known risks and to confirm that employees are using safe equipment and tools that have been kept up to date.

Employers are required to also possess compensation insurance for workers to pay for an injured worker's bills and expenses following a scaffolding accident or any additional work-related injuries.

Workers' compensation insurance will cover medical expenditures and offer disability benefits irrespective of the employer's wrongdoing.

Manufacturer or Installer Liability

Installers and manufacturers of substandard scaffolding can be held accountable for injuries resulting from accidents induced by the faults. Examples of evidence of a flaw include welding X-rays, professional structural assessment, and records that show how the scaffolding was set up at the job site.

An injured construction site worker who files a claim against a scaffolding manufacturer or installer needs to ensure that his/her construction lawyers are qualified to understand scaffold defects and to communicate those flaws to the jurors in clear and simple terms.

Manager or Site Owner Liability

Owners or managers of worksites who fail to exercise reasonable care to keep the work environment secure are liable under the premises liability laws for any damages that result from injuries sustained there. Site owners shall be held responsible for any damages sustained by injured parties as a result of dangerous scaffolds that they are aware were present but failed to address.

Other Entities

Scaffolding accidents can happen when somebody falls off, collapses, electric cables come into contact with metal scaffold materials and hurt workers who are on the platform, or when equipment or building materials drop from the scaffolding and hurt someone who is beneath the platform.

An attorney will examine the many factual patterns presented by each of the above possible situations to ascertain if any entities were negligent as well as if negligence was the obvious and immediate cause of the accident that caused the injuries.

Any victim's attorney will be better equipped to conduct that investigation in the early days following a scaffolding accident before eyewitness memories blur and the worksite changes and advances.

As a result, anyone hurt in a scaffolding accident shouldn't wait to get in touch with a scaffolding attorney following the accident. Any party who has been injured could be able to obtain the highest amount of damages possible when they take immediate action.

Obtaining Compensation Following a Scaffolding Injury

Workers wounded in a scaffold accident could be eligible to file a compensation claim under one of two legal grounds. Firstly, they can file a workers' compensation lawsuit with the help of a scaffold accident lawyer.

This workers' compensation scheme is built on a trade-off involving workers and their employers. Workers can obtain immediate medical care for work-related injuries irrespective of who is to blame. In exchange, employees cannot sue their employers for damages. Employers are required to carry workers' compensation coverage under California law. This guarantees that a company has the funds necessary to reimburse a worker for their injuries.

Workers who sustain an injury could also file personal injury claims against their employer instead of workers' compensation claims when the employer declines to get workers' compensation coverage.

However, practically all employers are covered by workers' compensation coverage. The moment a worker reports an injury to their employer, the employer should take affirmative action to support the worker's claim. For instance, companies are required to give an injured employee the required workers' compensation documentation as soon as the incident is reported.

After the worker submits the form, their employer has one working day to send the document as well as the injury report to the claims adjuster. These rights, along with others, can be explained in more detail by a scaffold accident lawyer.

A worker who has been hurt may file a personal injury lawsuit as their second form of claim. Usually, an injured employee cannot sue their employer for personal injuries. However, when negligence from a third party led to the construction site worker's injuries, the worker may file a claim for personal injuries against that entity.

This can happen, for instance, when faulty scaffolding injures a worker. In such a scenario, the injured employee may file a workers' compensation case against their employer as well as a personal injury suit against the scaffold manufacturer.

In general, injured employees are not permitted to get double compensation for the same injuries, therefore if they succeed in both lawsuits, they will be required to repay the majority or all of the workers' compensation awards.

Because workers' compensation is regarded as a no-fault problem, you don't need to prove negligence for your compensation to be paid out, even though you contributed to the incident that led to your scaffolding injury. Your attorney must demonstrate how the third party's negligence was the specific reason for your injuries to successfully pursue a personal injury lawsuit.

Find a lawyer who has a lot of experience handling personal injury cases and workers' compensation claims in California and is willing to vigorously fight on your behalf to secure the best outcome for your circumstances. Although it won't necessarily erase the damages, it will do a lot in assisting you in covering your accident-related costs and getting the finest medical attention for the injuries.

Are Your Injuries Covered By Insurance?

The first step is to determine whether or not you are insured by workers' compensation. Typically, insurance will pay for your injury when:

  • You're an employee
  • You were hurt while executing your duties

However, if the employer considers you to be a contractor or a 1099 employee, they may challenge your application for workers' compensation benefits. The issue at hand revolves around your status as an independent contractor or an employee. You can conduct research and establish your employment status with the aid of an attorney.

The next step is to demonstrate how your injury occurred while carrying out your usual work duties. Generally, this indicates that you had been "on the clock" and performing your duties. For instance, if you got hurt while traveling to your workplace, that isn't a work-related injury.

But, if you got hurt while traveling between work sites, such injuries would be covered by the workers' compensation. Additionally, you will still be covered even when you were negligent or not paying close enough attention to the job when you were hurt.

For instance, if you had been working while also having fun and got hurt as a result, you could still be able to receive compensation for your damages.

The Procedure for Submitting Your Claim

The first thing you need to do if you've been hurt is get medical help right away. See a doctor, receive treatment, and confirm that nothing worse has happened before leaving. Remember that your employer might have a particular doctor you are required to visit, so ensure your supervisor can verify where you should go.

However, if you're unable to decide as to which doctor to see, any location that offers emergency medical care is an excellent choice. Likewise, visit your doctor even though you believe you don't require any medical care. As a condition of paying out your claim, your employer's carrier could compel you to consult a doctor.

The majority of construction-related accidents should be reported to your employer right away since they are probably involved in getting you medical attention and treatment. Your employer will provide you with a document that requests confirmation of your identification, position, the activities you were performing, the damages you incurred, and the location of the facility you sought treatment (among other details).

You have one year from the date of your injury to submit your claim. If you're late, you are permanently prohibited from pursuing workers' compensation benefits for your injuries (and you could even be restricted from bringing a personal injury claim). Your employer must receive your signed claims paperwork within thirty days. If you exceed this timeline, it could be more difficult to obtain restitution for your damages.

Your employer will complete his/her portion of the claims form after receiving your paperwork and mail it to their insurance provider. The claim evaluation and approval or denial by the insurance carrier must be completed within 14 days. You have a year to submit your request for assessment of claims to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board if the claim is dismissed.

The WCAB is in charge of monitoring workers' compensation cases and will step in if it deems the insurance provider wrongfully denied the case, the employer failed to fulfill its obligations, or when there is an additional problem with the case.

Common Compensation for Scaffold Injuries

Many affected people frequently struggle to resume regular, fulfilling lives following an accident because of the extent of probable scaffold or construction site accidents.

After an accident, a substantial number of people find it hard to go back to work. An accomplished workers' compensation lawyer with experience handling scaffold injuries can assist you in maximizing your compensation and ensuring:

  • Sufficient coverage for all of your past, present, and projected medical costs, hospital stays, and injury-related treatments
  • Reimbursement for lost earnings resulting from missing work
  • Compensation for the loss of earning potential
  • Punitive damages as penalties for negligence

Construction workers who believe their employer's or perhaps a third party's negligence contributed to their scaffold accidents may be able to claim compensation. The same rules apply if you fell from a ladder, a cherry picker, or lifting apparatus. You should consult with a workers' compensation lawyer about your situation as soon as you can.

If your lawyer believes you possess a valid case, your legal counsel will fight for fair and proper compensation for you. Injuries sustained on scaffolds are frequently compensated for:

  • Medical expenses
  • Suffering and pain
  • Lost income

Your legal counsel will assist you in submitting compensation claims and looking into potential legal action against people who caused your scaffold accidents.

Why You Should Hire a Scaffolding Accident Lawyer

After a scaffolding accident, the most crucial thing an injured employee should do is focus as much as they can on their recovery. The rest will be handled by your lawyer, including:

  • Looking into the accident's causes, the circumstances surrounding the scaffold fall or malfunction, as well as the injuries sustained

To have a construction project back in operation as soon as possible, employers may conceal the accident and replace damaged scaffolds or materials immediately. A scaffold accident attorney will see to it that all essential information is kept on file.

  • Submitting a claim before the statute of limitations expires

In California, an aggrieved party typically has one year from the date of the accident to initiate a worker’s compensation claim. Injuries that are not reported within this window may not be eligible for additional compensation.

  • Having negotiations with insurance providers

Worker's compensation insurance providers for contractors will hire teams of attorneys to try and lower an affected party's insurance payout. The best approach to make sure your interests are upheld is to have an accomplished attorney on your side.

  • Finding the responsible parties

Several contractors and tradespeople often collaborate on a given construction project. A scaffold accident victim could be bussed between a contractor as well as subcontractors, even the firm that rented and installed the scaffolding. Your lawyer will carefully investigate the situation, allocate blame where it is due, and pursue all available legal remedies.

Find a Reputable Workers Compensation Attorney Near Me

If you were injured on a scaffold, or if your loved one has been injured or died as a consequence of construction site negligence, you should consult with an attorney. A competent lawyer can assist you in identifying the liable party and pursuing reimbursement for personal injury, workers' compensation, as well as wrongful death.

The Workers Compensation Lawyer Law Firm is available to help you get the compensation you deserve. Contact our Los Angeles law firm to set up an appointment so that we can review your scaffolding injury claim. Call us today at 424-501-9228.