Construction is one of the most dangerous industries in Illinois. Construction workers are injured in all sorts of accidents but falls and electrocution are major ones. Other construction workers are injured in “struck by” accidents when material falls onto them or they are struck by a motor vehicle.
If you were injured, you might have the right to bring a construction injury lawsuit. Our Illinois construction site accident attorneys can meet to discuss how you were hurt, as well as the severity of your injuries. We can then analyze whether you can sustain a compensation claim. Below, we look at some of the most common defendants in accident cases who have liability for injuries.
General Contractors
The general contractor oversees the job site and has ultimate responsibility for ensuring the safety of workers. Unfortunately, a general contractor could be negligent for various reasons, including:
- Failing to supervise the job site
- Negligent hiring of subcontractors
- Failing to train workers
- Overlooking hazards at the job site
- Contractors are juggling many hats, and some let safety slide
Subcontractors
A general contract typically hires subcontractors to perform most of the work. A subcontractor could be liable for any accident because of the following:
- Using substandard materials
- Employing faulty equipment
- Failing to supervise its employees
In some situations, a general contractor might also be liable for a subcontractor’s negligence if the general contractor has the right to control a subcontractor’s work. This typically means control over how the job is performed. If so, then the general contractor could be “vicariously liable” for a subcontractor’s negligence.
In other situations, a general contractor could still be liable where they superintend the entire job and should know the subcontractor is dangerously performing work. If the general contractor does not step in to ensure they perform work safely, then they might be liable for the subcontractor’s negligence.
Property Owners
The property owner could be liable for an accident. The owner still has liability for the safety of the property. An owner might be liable for failing to disclose a hidden hazard the owner knows about. For example, a power line could be buried but the owner doesn’t tell anyone, not even the general contractor. As a result, workers are injured when they dig a trench and strike the line.
In other situations, a property owner could have created a dangerous hazard themselves. This hazard would make the owner liable when the defect injures someone.
Equipment Manufacturers
Sometimes faulty equipment will cause an accident at a construction site. Imagine that a defective forklift tries to lift heavy material. The lift breaks, and the load slides off the front, landing on top of a worker. In this example, a manufacturing or design defect in the forklift could be the immediate cause of the accident. The manufacturer of a defective product could have liability for an accident when their faulty product is involved.
A subcontractor could also share liability if they do not notice the defect or ignore obvious warning signs that the equipment is not working properly. They should regularly inspect their power tools and motor vehicles to ensure they are working properly.
Victims
Sometimes the injured victim is to blame for their accident at a construction site. For example, a person visiting a job site might see that there’s a hole in the ground. If they march right up to it and fall in, their negligence is partly to blame.
The same is true if a worker misuses power tools. They should follow the directions and use personal protective equipment (PPE). A worker may be at least partially at fault when they get injured on the job.
Helpfully, workers’ compensation benefits are no-fault, which means your carelessness is irrelevant in most cases. But comparative fault will matter if an accident victim files a lawsuit.
Identifying Liability for a Construction Accident
Liability in construction injury cases isn’t always clear-cut. Many workers are injured in dramatic accidents. For example, scaffolding could collapse beneath workers, causing them to fall to the ground. Liability could rest with:
- Subcontractors who set up the scaffolding carelessly;
- The general contractor for failing to supervise the subcontractor as spelled out in the contract;
- Scaffolding manufacturer, if the scaffolding was defective;
- Some other party.
Liability can also be shared between multiple parties, depending on the facts. Anyone injured at a construction site should contact an attorney for help investigating the accident. Michael J. Lichner and his team will review all evidence. We typically want to speak to witnesses and possibly inspect any dangerous equipment. Please reach out to our office as soon as you can.
Who Can Bring a Construction Injury Lawsuit?
The right to bring a lawsuit for a construction site injury will depend on your identity. In particular, construction workers cannot sue their employer for an accident. The state’s workers’ compensation system will be the sole remedy against an employer, regardless of whether your boss was negligent or broke safety violations. This might sound unfair, but workers’ compensation makes no-fault benefits available much sooner than if you had to sue. However, in rare cases, where an employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, the law allows the injured employee to sue his or her employer for personal injuries in a personal injury action.
Construction workers can still sue a non-employer, such as a product manufacturer or the site owner, where the facts allow. The site owner might have failed to disclose a hidden defect, which hurt the worker. In that case, the worker can usually sue the property owner.
And non-workers might have a lawsuit against anyone liable for the accident. Many construction sites have visitors, including government officials who are supervising the construction. A person walking down the sidewalk could be injured when a crane collapses or a dump truck runs into them when exiting the site.
Speak with Our Illinois Construction Site Accident Attorneys
Michael J. Lichner is prepared to represent you in a construction accident lawsuit. Contact our office today and we can provide more advice in a free case evaluation.