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The recent announcement that 1,200 new homes will be built in Palm Bay adds to the expanding list of construction projects in Brevard County’s largest city and its neighboring towns in Florida. While helping to grow our thriving community, all of this new construction will likely increase the number of Palm Bay construction accidents and attendant claims for compensation.
Workers and other parties who are injured in construction accidents should seek prompt medical treatment, regardless of how minor an injury might appear to be. They should then consult with an experienced Palm Bay personal injury lawyer from Kogan & DiSalvo to determine the best path forward to recover full damages for their injuries.
What Are Some Typical Causes of Florida Construction Accidents?
A majority of Florida construction accidents fall into one of four broad categories:
- Falls from elevated surfaces, trip-and-fall mishaps caused by hidden construction site dangers, or objects that fall from elevations and hit a person below
- Electrocutions caused by contact with unshielded power sources or poorly-grounded tools
- Collisions with moving construction equipment or materials
- Entrapment in enclosed spaces or collapsing trenches
These and other types of construction accidents are often the result of another party’s carelessness or negligence. A construction site accident lawyer in Brevard County will review the circumstances of your case in-depth to determine which parties may be liable for your injuries, and whether you might be eligible to seek compensation above and beyond workers compensation.
What Are the Most Common Construction Accident Injuries?
Construction accident injuries can include:
- Broken bones
- Joint and ligament injuries
- Physical or chemical burns
- Electrocutions
- Cuts and contusions
- Head, neck, and back injuries
- Concussions and traumatic brain injuries
- Loss of use of limbs due to paralysis or amputation
- Impairment of eyesight or other senses.
Some construction accident injuries may not be immediately obvious but will become apparent and even get worse in the hours or days following the accident. Injured parties should always seek prompt medical treatment after any kind of construction accident.
What Compensation Is Recoverable in a Construction Accident Case?
Injured Florida construction workers can recover reimbursements for medical expenses, lost wages, and certain other losses by filing a workers’ compensation claim with their employer’s insurance company. That insurance will also provide limited benefits to the worker’s survivors in the event of a fatal construction accident.
To qualify for workers’ compensation benefits, an injured employee should report the accident in writing to his or her employer within thirty days.
The compensation that an injured worker can recover through workers’ compensation does not include damages for pain and suffering and other noneconomic losses. Workers generally cannot sue their employers for those types of losses that are caused by on-the-job injuries, but they may have valid claims against other parties that are at fault for the underlying accident.
Further, workers’ compensation claims are specific to employees and do not extend to site visitors or individuals who suffer injuries while passing by a South Florida construction site.
In all cases, a skilled attorney will analyze all possible sources of recovery to pursue the largest available compensation for an injured party, including damages for pain and suffering.
What Should an Injured Worker Do After a Construction Accident?
If you’ve been hurt in a Florida construction site accident:
- Get medical attention for all injuries as soon as possible, ideally within 24 hours
- Report the accident to an employer or site manager
- Get full contact information from any witnesses who saw the accident
- If possible, take multiple photographs of the accident site
- Save all invoices and medical bills for treatment of injuries, and retain stubs from recent wage payments to document recent salary and wages
- Contact a knowledgeable Palm Bay construction accident attorney who can advise you on your legal options for compensation
Construction sites are rapidly changing environments. Critical evidence of the cause of an accident can be lost very quickly in those environments. A skilled legal representative can investigate the circumstances surrounding your injury and make sure key evidence is gathered to prove your claim.
How Can You Find a Trusted Construction Accident Lawyer?
The right lawyer will answer your questions promptly and keep open lines of communication throughout the legal process. Always choose a lawyer who offers a free initial consultation. Key questions to ask the attorney include:
- How much experience does he or she have with construction accident claims? The right attorney will have helped other injured construction workers recover substantial damages in injury cases. He or she will also have an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of South Florida construction sites and how accidents happen at those sites.
- Will you have to pay anything upfront for the lawyer’s services? The attorney should provide a complimentary consultation and get paid only once a settlement is reached or damages are awarded.
- Will your lawyer take your case to trial? Your Palm Bay personal injury attorney should keep you fully informed of all settlement offers and should be ready, willing, and able to try your case if those offers are inadequate.
- Will your lawyer make communications and information easy for you? The legal process can be confusing and intimidating. Your attorney should provide simple and direct explanations of each step and spend whatever time is necessary to answer all of your questions.
After the initial consultation, ask yourself if you feel that the lawyer has your best interests in mind and will be a zealous advocate for your claim. Your instincts are often the best guide to tell you that you have found a construction accident lawyer you can trust.
Talk to a Palm Bay Construction Accident Lawyer
The personal injury lawyers at Kogan & DiSalvo are proud of our Palm Bay community and we offer our Brevard County neighbors the highest caliber of legal representation when injuries happen on construction sites. Reach out today to see how we can help.
