Working in the construction industry use a scaffold regularly. In most situations, this heightened piece of equipment is safe. However, the risk of injury is always prevalent. Falling from a scaffold can cause serious injuries and have life-changing consequences, including extensive medical bills, dwindling income, and a reduced ability to work even after recovery.
If you or a loved one suffered serious injuries in a work-related scaffolding accident in Florida, turn to The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine for help. Our Florida workers compensation lawyers can help you pursue workers’ compensation benefits or other compensation from the parties liable for your accident.
To learn more about how we can help you, schedule a free consultation today.
Investigating Your Scaffolding Accident to Determine Whether Regulations Were Met
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which regulates workplace environments to ensure that they are safe and hazard free, specifically recommends several safe practices when using a scaffold.
OSHA’s Recommended Safe Practice When Using a Scaffold
- Thoroughly inspect the scaffold before use for any mechanical problems
- Continue to check the scaffold during use
- Avoid exceeding weight limits
- Avoid jumping
- Avoid the use of ladders or climbing on the scaffold railings
- Follow manufacturers requirements
- Preload equipment
- Inspect wires and ropes regularly
- Clean and service equipment on a regular basis
These are just a few of the listed safety recommendations. While OSHA expects employees to follow the usage requirements, it is often the employer’s responsibility to inspect and maintain equipment in between uses. Failing to do so can deem your employer negligent, and the organization may be responsible for the injuries you suffer after a scaffolding fall.
How Scaffolding Accidents Happen
OSHA ranked scaffolding among the 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards violations in 2017. We will conduct a thorough investigation into your scaffolding accident to determine whether your employer correctly followed all scaffolding safety regulations.
Scaffolding accidents can occur for numerous reasons, including:
- Improper construction
- Overloading the scaffold
- Falling tools, work materials, or debris hitting the scaffold
- Lack of guardrails or personal fall arrest systems
- Loosening of the scaffold’s platform
- Lack of employee training on scaffold safety
Scaffolding Injuries
Most scaffolding injuries result from an employee falling. This can result in significant injuries, including broken bones, paralysis, amputations, chronic back and neck pains, traumatic brain injury, and even death.
Additional scaffolding risks include:
- Impact from heavy work tools or machinery
- Electrocution from power lines
- Collapsing or pinching scaffold
Gathering Evidence in a Scaffolding Accident Case
A scaffolding accident lawyer will work to secure evidence that verifies your injuries and establishes that another party’s negligence caused your scaffolding accident. This may include:
- Your medical records
- Reports from a federal, state or local government agency regarding your accident
- Statements from eyewitnesses
- Video footage of the scaffolding accident
- Records of your employer’s past safety violations
- Photographs of the accident scene
We may also enlist the opinions of construction safety experts or medical professionals to further strengthen your case for compensation.
Collecting Compensation in A Scaffold Accident
The injuries from a scaffolding accident are often severe meaning that the employee is often left in a difficult financial situation. It is possible that you are eligible for compensation to cover these costs.
Workers’ Compensation
The state of Florida requires most employers to carry workers’ compensation. This insurance policy will protect you if you suffer an injury from a work-related accident. Florida has very specific requirements regarding time limits and documents when filing a workers’ compensation claim.
Third-Party Claim
Unfortunately, not all employers carry workers’ compensation even when the state requires them to. If this is the case, we may be able to seek compensation from the at-fault party. Additionally, if your injuries are severe, you may be able to recover compensation for pain and suffering under a third-party claim.
It is best to discuss your legal options with a Florida scaffold accident lawyer. You can call us today.
Workers’ Compensation in a Scaffolding Accident
Employees can file for workers’ compensation through their employer when workplace accidents or job-related illnesses occur. Workers’ compensation benefits can help employees with the following:
Medical Expenses
Medical expenses include doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, prescription medication, physical therapy, and more.
Lost Wages
This benefit pays a portion of the wages employees lose when they are unable to work due to their injuries or illness.
A workers’ compensation lawyer in Florida can help you handle the paperwork while you recover from your scaffolding accident. To learn more about filing for workers’ compensation benefits, call us.
We Can Assist You with Filing Your Workers’ Compensation Claim
It can be difficult to meet the many requirements of the workers’ compensation claim, especially when you are dealing with your health. We will help you meet filing requirements while also staying within Florida’s statute of limitations to protect your eligibility in filing a third-party claim.
Florida requires that we file all personal injury cases within four years from the date of the accident. However, the time limits for filing a workers’ compensation or wrongful death claim are shorter than that. To stay within these strict timelines, it is important that you reach out to a scaffold accident lawyer in Florida as soon as possible.
We Can Help You with Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit
When you receive workers’ compensation benefits, you give up your right to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer. However, we may recommend filing a lawsuit if your employer’s negligence caused your scaffolding accident or if our investigation shows that other parties contributed to your scaffolding accident, such as the scaffolding manufacturer, the construction site owner, or other contractors.
Once we identify the parties at fault for your scaffolding accident, we can use the evidence we secured to prove the following elements of negligence:
- The at-fault parties had an obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing an accident.
- The at-fault parties breached this obligation through negligence or carelessness.
- The at-fault parties’ negligence caused your injury.
- As a result, you sustained damages.
Proving negligence in your scaffolding accident can allow you to recover compensation from the parties responsible for causing your injuries and other damages.
We Can Investigate Your Case for Your Third-Party Claim
If it makes sense to file a third-party claim, then it is necessary that we investigate the details of your case and establish fault. It is not always clear who is responsible when an employee suffers a work accident. Fortunately, a scaffold accident lawyer in Florida can pull information from many resources to determine who is responsible.
We will build your case with the following information:
- Medical records
- Employer records
- Witness statements
- Expert witness reports
- Image or videos of the accident
- OSHA reports
- Background and hiring reports
- Training reports
The Importance of Determining Damages in a Scaffolding Accident
It is important that we come up with an amount that appropriately covers your damages. This amount will be crucial in considering settlement amounts or workers’ compensation coverages. As important as this step is as a component of your case’s success, it can be a daunting task—one we are happy to take off your hands.
Filing a lawsuit allows you to pursue additional compensation for your damages. For instance, workers’ compensation benefits do not award compensation for pain and suffering or punitive damages, either of which may be warranted depending on the details of your case.
We will calculate your pain and suffering by determining the physical, emotional and mental pain you experienced from the scaffolding accident. Punitive damages are intended to punish at-fault parties for their reckless and egregious behavior, which may help prevent injuries in the future.
We Can Help You with Filing a Wrongful Death Claim in Your Scaffolding Accident
Although family members may be able to receive benefits from workers’ compensation after the death of a loved one, survivors also have the option of pursuing a wrongful death claim for additional compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages and benefits, funeral and burial expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages.
To find out if you are eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit over your loved one’s scaffolding accident, contact a Florida wrongful death lawyer at The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine for a free case review.
We Want to Represent You During This Difficult Time
Managing a work injury is difficult enough. Leave the legal process to our experienced legal team at The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine. Allow us to manage the communications and filing requirements while you focus on the most important thing, your health. You can trust that a scaffold accident lawyer in Florida will fight to collect the most compensation possible to make life easier after your injury.
We Offer Free Consultations with One of Our Scaffolding Accident Lawyers
If you suffered injuries in a scaffolding accident, we can discuss your options and help pursue compensations for your damages. Contact The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine to schedule a free consultation with one of our scaffolding accident lawyers today.
We Can Help.
