Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC can help you if you’ve been injured in a construction accident at work in Louisville. When you spend every day on a construction site, you already know how demanding and tough it is. That only increases when you get hurt, but it’s the questions that come up after that make an already difficult situation even harder. Our team will be there to answer your questions and help you through it. Set up a free consultation today.
Does it Make Sense to Get a Lawyer?
It’s not all that uncommon for injuries to happen when you work in construction. Virtually everybody understands that it’s a pretty dangerous profession. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have options for getting help when you do get hurt.
Moreover, it’s pretty easy to feel overwhelmed when something like this happens. All of a sudden, you’re dealing with a lot of questions about how you’re going to pay your bills and get back to work. That’s when it makes sense to talk to a lawyer, and when you do, we’ll help you by:
- Looking into what happened to figure out who’s actually responsible
- Explaining your options and showing you what the path forward looks like
- Handling the tough conversations with insurance companies and your employer
- Making things easier for you and your family so you can focus on getting better
No matter how long you’ve worked for a construction company, an accident can change how your employer and bosses look at you. That doesn’t change your options, but it does mean that the specifics matter.
What Causes Construction Accidents in Louisville?
When people think about construction accidents, it’s typically something like a major fall or a piece of heavy equipment going wrong. Those accidents happen, but construction injuries in Louisville usually stem from things like:
- Falls from roofs, ladders, scaffolding, lifts, or other elevated areas
- Getting hit by falling objects, like materials, tools, or equipment
- Accidents with heavy equipment like cranes, forklifts, excavators, loaders, and other large machines
- Electrocution injuries from exposed wires, damaged equipment, and overhead power lines
- Trench collapses and other excavation accidents
- Accidents during road construction
- Broken or defective power tools, ladders, safety harnesses, or pieces of machinery
- Poor safety oversight, including skipped safety procedures, failure to properly train you and other workers, or ignoring a hazard that everyone already knows about
What weaves all of these things together is pretty simple: construction work is dangerous, but that doesn’t mean every construction accident is unavoidable. But when something does happen, information becomes important.
Information That Can Help You After Your Construction Accident
In the chaos after a construction accident, the last thing you want to think about is information gathering. But those first few moments are pretty important for what comes next. From your perspective, though, everything flows from doing one crucial thing:
- Reporting the accident to your supervisor or someone in charge.
This is incredibly important not just for the claims process, but for making sure you’re able to get first aid and further medical care. It also puts your employer on alert that something has happened, and should kick injury protocol into gear. From that point, getting a few basic pieces of information can help later, like:
- Pictures or videos of where you were hurt, especially anything that looks unsafe, broken, or out of place.
- The date, time, and exact location of the accident while it’s still fresh in your mind. Instead of just writing “the construction site,” make a note of where you were working and what you were doing when it happened.
- The names and contact information of anyone who saw the accident or came over to help you afterward.
- The names and contact information of your supervisor, foreman, general contractor, subcontractor, or anyone else who was running the job site.
Once you’re away from the site and focusing on your recovery, the information shifts to documenting the ongoing impact on your health and finances. To do that, try to keep track of:
- Your medical records, which show not just that you were hurt, but how your injury has affected you over time.
- Pay stubs and missed work, including reduced hours, lighter-duty work, or overtime you can no longer take.
- Text messages or emails between you and your supervisors, contractors, or company representatives. Sometimes a simple message can be important evidence of what the people in charge knew about an unsafe condition.
- Pictures of your injuries as they progress, especially if you have bruising, scars, swelling, or other problems.
Obviously, every situation is different, and the information that can help you is going to depend on the specifics of where you were and what happened to you. In other words, the details of what happened are going to matter when it comes to figuring out who’s responsible.
How to Figure Out Who’s Responsible For My Construction Accident
This is one of the hardest things to figure out about construction accidents, not because liability works differently, but because typical construction sites have a lot of moving parts. There’s usually a bunch of different companies and subcontractors all sharing the same space, and that can make responsibility hard to untangle.
But in general, it’s still about showing negligence. And that’s not any different on a construction site. It requires showing that somebody:
- Did something—or failed to do something—that led to the accident and your injuries.
Normally, that means liability falls on:
- Your employer or subcontractor
- A general contractor overseeing the project
- A property owner or developer
- Another subcontractor whose actions created a hazard
- A company that rented or maintained equipment
- A manufacturer of defective equipment or safety gear
- A company responsible for inspecting or repairing machinery
Remember, the specifics of your particular accident matter. Sometimes it’s obvious who caused the accident, but most of the time, it takes digging through jobsite records, safety reports, emails, or inspection records to figure out where things went wrong. And because there can be several contractors and companies involved, they’ll start pointing fingers at each other. That doesn’t change your overall options though.
How Can I Get Financial Help For My Construction Injuries?
It’s not hard to figure out why getting hurt at your construction job in Louisville is so impactful to your life. Between medical bills, missed paychecks, and not knowing what happens next, it’s a lot to deal with. That’s where the claims process really becomes important, but the path you take depends on your needs and whether or not your injuries were the result of someone else’s negligence. Once you have a better idea of those things, you can look closer at your options, which generally include:
- Filing a workers’ compensation claim. Every employer in Kentucky is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, and it applies to full-time employers and contractors. That’s crucial with a construction job, because you might work on different sites for different companies. But all you need to do is report the accident to the people in charge and then apply for benefits that can include things like:
- Medical treatment for your work-related injury
- Temporary disability benefits if you can’t work while you recover
- Benefits for a permanent disability if your injury leaves lasting problems
A workers’ comp doesn’t require you to prove that someone was negligent. But it also doesn’t work the same way as a personal injury claim, and so the benefits you get only go so far, particularly with more serious construction injuries. That’s where your other options come in.
- Filing a personal injury claim. If someone’s negligence caused the accident and your injuries, you might also have a personal injury claim. This works the same way it would if your injury happened outside of work, meaning you can either file an insurance claim outside of court or a personal injury lawsuit in civil court to get “damages” relating to your:
- Current and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Damaged property
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death expenses in fatal accidents
Remember, a personal injury claim takes showing negligence, but it also has deadlines. In Kentucky, you only have one year from the date of the accident to file a personal injury claim. And when you consider that figuring out which claims apply isn’t always straightforward, that time can dry up quickly. The good news is that you don’t have to try to go it alone. Our team will be with you from the beginning to make sure nothing gets missed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I file a personal injury claim if I already have workers’ comp?
You can, as long as you can show that someone else’s negligence led to your accident and injuries.
What happens if I don’t know who’s responsible for my injuries?
That’s pretty common after a construction accident. You may know what happened without knowing who was responsible. For now, focus on reporting the accident, getting medical care, and documenting what you can. We can help figure out who may be responsible and what options you have.
Does my family have options if the accident is fatal?
Yes, they do. Workers’ comp can provide certain death benefits after a fatal construction accident, while surviving family members can also file a wrongful death claim in civil court.
Get Help From Kaufman & Stigger After a Construction Accident in Louisville
When you’re dealing with a construction injury in Louisville, the last thing you should have to handle is legal red tape and pushback from the companies involved. At Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, we’ll explain your options in plain language, help gather the information you need, and stand up for your rights—so you can focus on getting better. Reach out today for a free consultation.
