While we may anticipate flawless work at construction sites, accidents occur when least expected. The damage to workers sometimes leads to catastrophic injuries. Financial compensation is often difficult to determine in such cases, especially if you or your loved ones are not versed with the law and thus an experienced attorney comes in handy.
Who is Responsible for Crane Accidents?
Accidents are common in the construction industry. Heavy machinery is used since cranes are mostly called upon where the most demanding construction activities are being carried out. As a result, catastrophic and potentially life-threatening accidents are prone to happen. However, this does not justify the accidents and the affected parties must seek to get justice through the right legal counsel. Examining the scene where the accident occurred is one way to know who is responsible for the accident.
The company will likely hire big gun lawyers, putting the underdog at a disadvantage from the word go. Suing one’s employers, particularly in New York City, and getting compensated for damages is always an uphill task. Work-related injuries like a crane accident could see them squash the case, or in some instances, drag the case in court until you give up.
Workers’ compensation benefits come in handy but the worker’s compensation payments may overlook losses and harms incurred in addition to being a mere fraction of the estimated losses. Losses such as loss of pension, promotions, rising living costs, and loss of collective bargaining are always ignored when workers’ compensation payments are being made. Therefore, hiring a New York crane accident lawyer from a reputable firm like Gregory Spektor & Associates helps even the playing field and increases the chances of getting compensated for all losses incurred.
What Are the 4 Most Common Crane Accidents?
Crane operators have caused many accidents. Most crane accident injuries are a result of crane operator errors. When the crane operator is at fault, the company is liable. The parties that trained the crane operator are also liable. Four other factors have led to these accidents.
The first cause of the accidents is contact with power lines. When a crane hits a power line, accidents are likely to happen. A crane falling also causes an accident. The power line can also develop electrical hitches, resulting in wrongful death. The crane can also fall on construction workers and those nearby and kill them.
Besides this, a power line can land on the crane and electrocute the crane operator and other nearby construction workers. Safety measures can be taken to protect construction workers from accidents. The Crane operator should remain in the crane in event that a power line lands on the crane. This will prevent electrocution in case the line has electricity flowing through it. Other construction workers should keep off the power lines or the ground near the accident on the construction site. Observing strict operating procedures is also critical to maintaining safety. This will protect crane operators, other construction workers, and colleagues on the construction site.
A crane can also overturn at a construction site. This can be because of contact with power lines. A crane can also overturn due to collision with other objects such as construction walls. In some cases, the inexperience of crane operators also leads to a crane accident. When the operator ignores operating procedures, a crane accident is likely.
Mechanical failure of the crane can also lead to an accident. A crane can fall or overturn due to its mechanical failures, causing a fatal accident on the construction site. Mechanical failures can also result from the crane manufacturer.
What is the Number One Killer in Crane Accidents?
Deaths on construction sites could be caused by the electrocution of workers, the collapse of objects, falling of crane parts and load. This causes considerable deaths among construction workers and crane operators in New York City.
Crane Accident Attorneys
The construction industry has had accidents that have led to some of the most catastrophic injuries ever witnessed. Personal injury attorneys now must file personal injury lawsuits for the injured construction workers. This is to pursue compensation.
Crane accident attorneys have held construction companies and general contractors liable for crane accidents. This has helped reduce the number of crane accidents. Wrongful deaths and crane accident injuries have also been reduced as a result.
Why should You Hire a Crane Accident Attorney?
Accidents at construction sites cannot be fully avoided, no matter how cautious one is. When they occur, they come with a load of medical bills. Some cases subject the accident victims to a lifetime of medical treatment costs. The most unfortunate cases result in death. Injured workers need justice. This requires crane accident lawyers who understand labor laws clearly to seek compensation for injured workers.
Factors to Consider When Selecting a Crane Accident Attorney
In the event of a crane accident and you need a crane accident lawyer, consider some factors, and don’t choose blindly. First, consider the ability of the accident attorney to navigate a complicated crane accident case. Is it clear who is at fault? If not, navigating through to ensure you are fairly compensated may not be easy. Experienced accident attorneys know what to do in each case.
Second, the crane accident lawyer should also have experience handling construction site accidents. A Crane Accident lawyer will be the best choice if you are around New York City. A lawyer understands all options relevant for staging a legal claim. Lawyers who understand the worker’s compensation benefits available for their clients can organize good claims for them. The lawyers also ensure the clients are fairly compensated by filing a solid workers’ compensation claim.
Crane accident lawyers who have expertise in other sources of compensation. This will help them work to the advantage of the workers injured on site. Personal injury results from faulty construction equipment. Any faulty construction equipment poses a potential danger to any construction worker. Other times it is the fault of the crane manufacturer. Construction accident lawyers understand what questions to ask to identify the liable parties. Inexperienced lawyers may not easily identify liable parties.
When Should You Hire a Construction Accident Lawyer?
Workers injured in the line of duty may not think about considering a personal injury lawsuit. However, devastating injuries present a personal injury lawsuit as one of the legal options. This especially happens when construction companies are liable and are unwilling to take responsibility for the injury claim leveled against them. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has clear rules and regulations to ensure construction accidents and crane accidents do not occur.
Among the devastating crane accident injuries that workers face are burns and electric shocks, spinal or neck injuries, fractures and broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, blindness or hearing loss, and wrongful death. Wrongful death usually involves third parties. These injuries can often result in an inability to work, leading to loss of income, and this coupled with the medical bills can make life impossible for accident victims.
Over the last few years, crane accidents have raised many concerns.
- In March 2008, a New York crane accident killed 7 people, leaving 24 others with serious injury cases. This happened at a construction site in Midtown East
- In May the same year, another construction accident killed six workers, injuring a number
- In April 2012, a crane accident claimed a life, leaving four workers injured at 34th Street
Property owners have also lost a great deal. Each time a crane accident occurs, a law firm files a lawsuit; the property owner loses time and money. A lawyer that understands the Osha regulations can approach the obstacles set up by defense attorneys from different angles since they are knowledgeable and because of the repute of the firm, can adequately investigate the factors surrounding the accident through the firm’s investigators.
New York Crane Accidents
Crane accidents have mainly resulted from Cranes striking power cables, crane rigging, mechanical failure, dropped crane loads, crane overturning, and crane boom. The crane boom requires accurate precision to operate. A slight error might as well lead to a fatal crane accident.
When these accidents occur, they lead to lost wages, fractures and broken bones, and other serious injuries. Lost wages are a result of the inability to work. While these and many other problems persist, the go-to law firm, Gregory Spektor & Associates has come in handy to ensure fair compensation to clients. We lead other crane accident lawyers in professional service to clients.
Among the areas we practice in are construction accidents medical malpractice. Medical malpractice, whether by accident of the medics or by negligence, still affects the victim. The good thing about us is that our clients do not have to pay a single cent until we recover compensation on their behalf. This setup is a win-win for all parties since it motivates our team to try get you the most favorable settlements while ensuring that in the rare case that a case is not successful, the client does not undergo further undue stress trying to pay us.
We also practice around wrongful death. This has had adverse effects on third parties. Each of our lawyers can handle a personal injury case better than any crane accident lawyer. Our legal team understands every bit of each applicable New York labor law. Reach out to us today and enjoy our free consultation as we try to determine if you have a case and how to approach the matter to get you the most favorable outcome.
Occupational Safety
Due to injuries and deaths at the workplace, occupational safety and health gave guidelines on how employees should conduct themselves. It also gave guidelines on how employers should support their employees to meet safety expectations. These include being aware of one’s environment for any safety concerns. Where safety equipment is used, inappropriate equipment must be avoided. Taking breaks regularly proper use of equipment while handling heavy machinery, for example, is necessary. Knowing emergency exits and reporting safety concerns is also necessary.
Why Gregory Spektor & Associates?
Over the years, Gregory Spektor & Associates has built an excellent attorney-client relationship. We charge affordable legal fees and give free consultations as some of the ways we have built good relationships with our clients. Besides the free consultation, our legal charges are given as a contingency fee basis. The contingency fee basis of payment ensures you get value for your money. You eliminate the risk of losing money without the successful closure of your case. While other law firms focus on money, we focus on securing maximum compensation for the accident victims. Our lawyers have successfully pursued many crane accident cases and gotten justice for our clients.
Gregory Spektor & Associates
1 Cross Island Plaza Suite 203C,
Queens, NY 11422
Phone: +1 800-318-8888
