New York – New Jersey Construction Accident Lawyer

Construction accidents occur in a significant number in the New York / New Jersey area. While they build our modern skyscrapers, underground infrastructure, roads, tunnels and bridges, construction workers remain vulnerable to unsafe working conditions caused by employers desire to cut corners in terms of providing adequate safety devices, impose unreasonable schedules and threaten workers if they complain about safety violations. In today’s economy, construction workers are more likely to remain silent and risk death or serious injury than to take a chance on losing their jobs.

It is for this very reason that New York and most other states have laws specifically designed to protect construction workers. These laws recognize the extremely dangerous nature of construction work as well as the fact that this work is often done under unsafe conditions and without proper safety devices. When safety takes second place to unrealistic schedules, saving money on safety equipment or greed, workers are placed at an unreasonable risk of serious injury and death.

In New York, construction workers enjoy extraordinary protection under a number of provisions of the New York State Labor Law, which hold property and building owners and general contractors “absolutely liable” for injuries or deaths to workers that are the result of violating these laws. Significantly, the Labor Law also allows workers to recover in many situations where they were responsible to some extent for their accident.

Absolute liability under the Labor Law extends to construction accidents involving defective safety devices, improper safety devices or the lack of safety devices such as scaffolds, ladders, cranes, hoists and pulleys, falling objects and construction materials. The work covered by the Labor Law includes construction, repairs, painting, excavation, blasting, demolition, work in or near open or unguarded shaftways or openings, falls from rooftops or through skylights, window washing, collapses and asbestos removal.

Even if the Labor Law does not apply to a particular accident, an injured worker may still have the right to sue for negligence if a third party was responsible for the occurrence. This could include the manufacturer of a defective piece of equipment.

At the very least, an injured worker always has the possibility of seeking benefits under Workers’ Compensation which covers accidents caused by the worker himself or by a coworker.

If you have been the victim of a construction or workplace related accident, please contact us for a free consultation. We’re available at our New York and New Jersey offices to answer your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.