People go to work to get enough money for themselves and their families, so what they expect the least is their workplace to cost them money. Unfortunately, that is the reality of many construction workers who need to pay tons of money on medical bills.
Working on a construction site is more dangerous than many people think. Although the Texas government requires employers to provide their workers with a safe place to work, many of them ignore that and prefer to save costs rather than spend money on their workers' safety.
That is a problem. However, the law protects construction workers and allows them to file a workers' compensation claim or personal injury lawsuit to get financial compensation. Not many people know how this legal process works, but they can go through it with the help of a decent lawyer.
People can learn everything they need to know about filing a personal injury lawsuit for a construction accident in Texas. If they want more information, they can go to Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys' website. They can also help with how to file a lawsuit for oil rig accident in Texas.
Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys is ready to take construction accident cases in Dallas, TX, and get their clients the compensation they deserve. Victims of a personal injury issue can contact it through its website anytime they need to.
Why Is Working in a Construction Site Dangerous?
The main problem with working in a construction site is all the hazardous situations workers are exposed to there. First, they often have to get on high scaffolders or ladders, and falling from them could lead to severe injuries or even death.
Workers operate heavy machinery for many things on a construction site. Moving the machines incorrectly and hitting another worker could also lead to a deadly construction accident.
However, what often leads to construction accidents is the lack of protective equipment and measures from the construction company. Sometimes, those businesses prefer to invest in other things and ignore the safety requirements the law asks for.
Apart from those things, construction accidents could also happen due to electrocution. Workers often need to meddle with power lines and wiring. This shouldn't represent a problem if they had the proper training to do it or the equipment to keep problems from happening.
What Can People Get Compensation for?
Victims of construction accidents often know they can get compensation for what happened but not what they can do with that money. The damages the victim suffered are essential for determining the final settlement since the main goal of the compensation is to cover those damages.
Here is a brief explanation of what people can get compensation for after a construction accident:
Lost Wages
Lost wages refer to the lack of earning capacity workers go through because they can't keep working. When a construction accident is too severe, they will be unable to keep doing their jobs, which also keeps them from making money.
If that job was the only way the employee had to make money, the construction accident could leave them nothing for food. This, of course, is aside from the expensive medical bills.
Therefore, the construction accident lawyer the victim hires should calculate how much money the victim is losing by stopping to work to add it up to the final settlement.
Economic Damages
Lost wages are often considered economic damages. Why? Because economic damages in a workers' compensation claim or construction accident lawsuit are the losses people can give an exact price to.
Medical expenses are an economic damage because the hospital bills will have a specific price. The same happens with property damage such as car repairs or something similar.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages, unlike economic ones, are losses that don't have a material price. Things such as pain, emotional distress, and trauma are things that don't have a cost in the real world. However, they are worth compensating in a workers' compensation or construction site accident claim.
The method the court uses to calculate construction site accident non-economic damages depends on them. However, there are a couple of ways to do it. These damages can be so expensive they even go over what the other party has to pay for economic losses.
How to File a Personal Injury Claim for Construction Accident in Texas
Filing a personal injury lawsuit is a complex legal process, which is the reason people need help from a construction accident lawyer to do it. After they suffer an accident, victims need to go to the doctor right away.
When construction site accident victims are already safe and go to a doctor, they can proceed to call a personal injury lawyer to take the case. The lawyer will ask to schedule a free consultation with them.
Proving Texas construction site accidents requires a lot of evidence, so the lawyer and victim will have to put effort into collecting enough for the case. Once they do that, they can file a formal complaint to a court.
The court's process server will send a copy of the complaint to the defendant for them to respond to it. Construction sites won't give in that easily, so they will most likely deny the complaint or make a counterclaim.
After the defendant proceeds with its own investigation, both parties will enter the discovery phase. There, the construction worker, their lawyer, and the other party will share case evidence.
Judges always encourage the victim's construction accident attorney and the defendant to get to an agreement to avoid going to trial. However, if they don't want to or fail to do it, they will have to do so.
Workers Compensation Claim vs. Lawsuit
In Texas, the difference between workers' compensation and personal injury claims is more important than in others. The reason for this is that, unless the property owner is not subscribed to workers comp insurance, insurance will almost always cover the compensation after construction site accidents.
This leads to different problems since company owners often avoid offering workers compensation benefits. In those cases, the worker will have to file a claim against them and the insurance company.
If the accident happened due to the negligence of another party that is not the employer or the victim, then they can file a third-party lawsuit. There, the case would follow its regular course to get fair compensation for what happened.
Wrapping Up
Construction sites shouldn't be the place of the accidents mentioned in this article. Indeed, a lawsuit won't erase the accident, but it's an excellent way of seeking justice for the victim.
Schuerger Shunnarah Trial Attorneys is committed to each of its clients and it's ready to go to war for them. Anyone looking forward to hiring them for a case in Dallas, Texas, can contact the firm today to schedule a free case evaluation.