Construction Accident Lawyers in Phoenix, Arizona

sources of liability

Each personal injury case is unique, and construction accidents involve complexities of their own. Because construction projects are generally collaborative enterprises involving numerous parties, liability from accidents on the construction site can belong to numerous sources—site owners, architects and engineers, independent contractors, suppliers, and manufacturers.

Because of this variability, construction accidents require case-by-case evaluation. If you were injured on a construction site, our experienced can evaluate your case and help you strategize a path toward maximum compensation. In establishing liability, key questions include the following:

1. Where did the accident occur?

2. What were the conditions of the accident site?

3. What equipment was involved?

4. Was the equipment used properly?

5. Who had control over the site and equipment at the time of the accident?

6. Who do you work for?

Depending on the facts of your case, there may be multiple sources of liability. Some may be more apparent than others. Therefore, do not discount the potential value of your case before speaking with an attorney.

Routes to recovery

There are several routes to securing compensation in the event you are injured on a construction site in the Phoenix area. First, you may be entitled to worker’s compensation. However, it is worth investigating whether parties other than your employer may be liable; if they are, you can seek compensation by filing a civil claim.  

Workers’ Compensation

Under Arizona law, employers must secure workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. In Arizona, workers’ compensation is a “no fault” system, which means that injured employees are covered regardless of who caused the job-related accident. So long as the illness or injury is “job-related” and certain other eligibility requirements are met, the injured worker is entitled to receive medical benefits and may receive temporary compensation.

Eligibility is generally broad. However, there are certain limitations to the “no-fault” system. For example, employees are not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for “purposely self-inflicted” injuries.

If your employer is insured for worker’s compensation, you are generally not allowed to sue them in the event of a work-related illness or injury—worker’s compensation is the exclusive remedy. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule as well. If any of the following apply, you may file a civil suit against your employer to recover compensation for a work-related injury:

• If the employer did not have workers’ compensation insurance at the time of the injury;
• If the employee rejected workers’ compensation coverage prior to their injury;
• If the employer failed to post a notice advising employees of their right to reject workers’ compensation;
• If the employee was injured through the “willful misconduct” of the employer or a co-worker.

Read more: Construction Workers’ Rights

claims against third parties

Worker’s compensation is, in part, designed to create a systematic and predictable way of distributing compensation for work-related injuries while also avoiding the costliness and uncertainty of civil litigation. This is a primary rationale behind protecting employers from lawsuits seeking compensation when they have worker’s compensation insurance and have followed all of the rules. However, there are other potential routes to compensation. 

Negligence

If a third party was responsible for your accident by way of negligence, you can seek compensation from them by filing a suit. A negligence suit is predicated on the law’s recognition that all individuals owe each other a duty to be behave reasonably in order to avoid causing harm to others; this is commonly phrased as a “duty to use reasonable care.” For example, we all owe each other a duty to use reasonable care when driving a car or operating heavy machinery.

To establish a negligence claim, you must prove four “elements”:

• a duty,
• a breach of that duty,
• causation, and
• damages.

That is, you must prove that the defendant violated the duty of reasonable care and that their violation was the cause of your injuries. Determining causation generally requires a close look at the facts. However, a common way of establishing this element in construction accident cases is to show that the defendant violated Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations governing the safe operation of the premises.

Products Liability

Often, accidents on construction sites result from defective products. Defects may be categorized into three forms:

• Design defects, which are inherent to the product,
• Manufacturing defects, which occur during assembly and may be limited to only a few finished products, and
• Defects in marketing, which may be based on improper instructions or a failure to warn of inherent dangers in the products.

A products liability case may be based on a negligence theory, outlined in the foregoing section. Alternatively, it may also be based on a theory of “strict liability” or “breach of warranty of fitness.” Both of these legal theories are designed to protect consumers.

Strict Liability. Strict liability simply means that liability may exist whether the defendant behaved responsibly or not. In a products liability case, injuries caused by a defective product may be compensable regardless of the manufacturer’s or distributor’s behavior or intent. This distinguishes strict liability from negligence in so far as negligence requires that the defendant behaved irresponsibly by breaching their duty of reasonable care.

Warranty of Fitness. When a manufacturer or vendor puts a product on the market for sale, it typically comes with a warranty guaranteeing that the product is fit and safe to use for its advertised purpose. For example, when a contractor buys a nail gun, it comes with the implicit  understanding that the gun is safe when used according to its instructions. A violation of this generalized warranty of fitness may also lead to liability.

Read more: Products Liability

OUR CONSTRUCTION Injury LAWYERS in Phoenix CAN HELP

In addition to recovering physically, construction workers who have been hurt on the job often struggle to recover the financial compensation they deserve. If you were injured on a construction site, you may be entitled to additional compensation beyond the worker’s compensation offered by your employer.

At Zinda Law Group, we understand that the legal processes for recovering satisfactory compensation can be daunting. We believe that no victim of a construction accident should face the process without excellent legal representation, and we pride ourselves in providing that representation. Our personal injury attorneys are here to help.

Call Zinda Law Group at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free case evaluation with our experienced construction accident attorneys in Phoenix. You pay nothing unless we win your case. That is our No Win, No Fee Guarantee. 

Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.