Iowa Construction Accident Lawyer

Causes of Iowa Construction Injuries

The injuries construction workers suffer are often life-threatening. The industry as a whole has a high fatality rate when compared to other industries. In part, this is because of the many hazards workers face daily. Some of the most frequent causes of Iowa construction accident injuries include the following:

• Unsafe Working Conditions: Poorly maintained equipment, inadequate safety measures, lack of safety gear, and insufficient training can create hazardous work environments.
• Human Error: Mistakes made by workers due to fatigue, distraction, inexperience, or lack of training can lead to accidents. Additionally, miscommunication or misunderstanding of safety protocols can contribute to incidents.
• Negligence and Non-compliance: Failure to follow safety regulations, cutting corners to meet deadlines, or ignoring safety protocols set by regulatory bodies can significantly increase the risk of accidents.
• Inadequate Planning and Design: Flaws or oversights in the initial planning and design phase of a construction project can lead to structural failures or unsafe conditions during construction.
• Poor Communication: Lack of clear communication among workers, supervisors, and management regarding safety procedures, changes in plans, or potential hazards can contribute to accidents.
• Equipment Failure: Malfunctioning or poorly maintained machinery, tools, or equipment can cause accidents, leading to injuries or fatalities.
• Environmental Factors: Adverse weather conditions, unexpected geological issues, or natural disasters can create unsafe conditions on construction sites.
• Pressure to Meet Deadlines: Tight project schedules or pressure to complete tasks within a short time frame can compromise safety measures and result in rushed work, increasing the likelihood of accidents.
• Subcontractor and Worker Coordination: Lack of coordination and oversight among subcontractors and workers from different companies on the same site can lead to confusion and unsafe conditions.
• Lack of Risk Assessment: Failure to properly identify, assess, and mitigate potential risks in different construction phases can result in accidents that could have been prevented.

With risks like these, it’s easy to see how so many construction workers are critically injured on a day-to-day basis. When you’re trying to focus on recovering from catastrophic injuries, you should not be burdened by increasing medical costs and household bills that are going unpaid while you are unable to work.

Electrical Injuries & Construction Accidents

Electrical injuries are the third-leading cause of fatal construction worker injuries. Understanding the nature of these injuries can help workers avoid them on construction sites.

What Is the Most Common Electrical Injury in the Workplace?

There are several types of electrical injuries that workers may sustain in a construction accident. These may include:

• Injuries resulting from falls after a worker loses balance from an electric shock
• Flash burns due to arc flash
• Mild to severe burns caused by flames when arc flash sets clothing on fire
• Heart damage or damage to other internal organs or the central nervous system as a result of high voltage electric shock

Certain types of workplace hazards can cause these injuries, which cause you to seek treatment from a workers' compensation doctor. These hazards could include buried or overhead power lines, improperly grounded power tools, and heavy equipment such as moving trucks. Additionally, inclement weather, working at elevated heights, defective equipment, exposed and unsafe wiring, unfinished electrical systems, and working with gas-powered combustion engines can cause electrical injuries. Even if these injuries aren't fatal, they can be serious and cause debilitating disabilities. Fortunately, these types of hazards and injuries are avoidable on construction sites with proper safety measures.

The Risk of Electrical Burns on Construction Sites

The most common electrical injury in the workplace that doesn't result in death is burns, according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA). These injuries are often responsible for causing long-term damage that may not be noticeable until long after the initial accident. Some types of damage resulting from electrical burns are disfigurement and scarring, which typically affect the head, hands, and feet and may require both physical therapy and reconstructive surgery. Electrical burns may also cause damage to muscles and ligaments, tissue damage that's prone to infection, impaired hearing, lung damage, and psychological distress caused by the trauma of the experience. Another disorder that may develop as a result of electric shock is reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), which is also referred to as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). This disorder entails the contraction of blood vessels at injury sites without the ability to reopen. The condition causes persistent pain and the sensation of being cold.

Preventing Electrical Injuries in the Workplace

There are certain steps that both companies and employees can take to prevent causes of the most common electrical injury in the workplace. For instance, employers and employees should make sure that low-voltage electrical systems are sufficiently grounded, while de-energizing high-voltage power lines. It's also important to regularly inspect power cords and wiring to ensure they're in good condition. To further provide a safe environment from the most common electrical injury in the workplace for construction workers, employers should provide and employees should learn reliable tag out or lockout systems. Finally, employees should avoid operating electric power tools near gas-powered combustion engines or other locations where they may be exposed to flammable or combustible substances, including gas, liquids, or dust. Power lines are especially dangerous, functioning as magnets that are drawn toward nearby metal. As such, all front loaders, cranes, and backhoes need to be at a great enough distance from power lines to avoid contact with them.

What to Do After Suffering Electrical Injuries on a Construction Site

The report on safety in the workplace shows that, without proper measures in place to create a safe environment, construction workers are often at risk of mild to severe injury from electrical shock and other hazards. However, there are certain steps that injured workers can take to recover compensation if another party's negligence was responsible for the accident and subsequent injuries. If construction workers sustain electrical injuries on the job, they may qualify for workers' compensation to recover damages such as medical bills and lost wages due to time taken off from work to recover. Additionally, if a negligent party caused the accident and injuries, workers may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the liable party to recover greater work injury compensation. Although workers' comp may help protect employers from liability for electrical injuries or other work-related accidents, some other parties may be deemed liable for these accidents and resulting damages for the most common electrical injury in the workplace. Some liable parties may include contractors and subcontractors, manufacturers of defective construction equipment, or the owners of the building undergoing construction. For example, certain equipment may be found to have caused electrical shock due to defective design and safety features, in which case the manufacturer of this equipment could be required to cover the damages if the equipment causes injuries. Employers and employees should try to maintain a safe work environment on construction sites, where hazards are often present more frequently than in other workplaces. If electrical injuries occur, employees may be able to recover compensation through a workers' compensation claim.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Your employer is required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance to protect employees in the event of a construction accident. Every employee who is injured while performing his or her duties is entitled to collect workers’ comp benefits as long as he or she was on the clock and not in violation of company policies.

The amount of weekly compensation you will receive will depend on how disabling your injury is and your average weekly income. As a general rule, you will be able to collect up to 80 percent of your income until you go back to work.

In addition to these benefits, your workers’ compensation insurance should cover medical costs associated with your injuries. This could include the costs of your prescription medications, hospital bills, medical equipment, copays, and similar expenses.

Because Iowa construction accident injuries are often severe, the compensation you’ll receive from workers’ comp may not cover the total costs stemming from your injuries. That’s why some on-the-job injury victims consider filing a personal injury claim.

Filing a Personal Injury Claim After a Construction Accident

In Iowa, workers’ compensation benefits are paid regardless of fault. This is not the case when seeking compensation in a personal injury claim. The liability of another party is crucial to your success. Your construction accident lawyer will investigate your construction accident thoroughly to determine who is to blame for your injuries.

Once the fault has been established, we will calculate the value of your claim by examining the total impact your injuries have had and may continue to have on your life.

Unlike a work comp claim, a third-party claim refers to a legal claim or lawsuit filed by an injured party (who is not an employee of the construction company) against a party other than their employer who may bear some responsibility for the accident and resulting injuries. In addition to receiving workers' compensation benefits, this type of claim can compensate you for non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, and loss of consortium. You can also account for your loss of income (including the 20 percent or more workers comp will not cover) and loss of earning potential.

Common types of third parties in construction accidents include:

• Subcontractors: Other companies or individuals hired by the primary contractor to perform specific tasks on the construction site. If a subcontractor's negligence or actions contribute to the accident, they may be held liable.
• Property Owners: Owners of the construction site or adjacent properties might be liable if their negligence in maintaining safe premises contributes to the accident.
• Manufacturers or Suppliers: If a defective product or equipment malfunction causes the accident, the manufacturer or supplier of that product could be held responsible.
• Design Professionals: Architects, engineers, or design consultants may be held liable if their design plans or specifications are faulty or contribute to the accident.
• Government Entities: In cases where government regulations, inspections, or approvals are involved and their negligence contributes to the accident, they might be held accountable.
• Utility Companies: Entities responsible for maintaining underground utility lines might be liable if their negligence leads to an accident, such as a gas line rupture or electrical hazard.
• Drivers or Pedestrians: If a construction accident involves a vehicle collision or a pedestrian injury caused by someone outside the construction site, that party might be held liable.

Identifying third parties in construction accidents requires a thorough investigation to determine their level of responsibility. It's common for multiple parties to share liability, and these claims can significantly impact the compensation received by the injured party beyond workers' compensation benefits.

Therefore, if someone else caused your injuries and workers’ compensation benefits aren’t covering all of your costs, filing a personal injury claim could help you recover without the added stress of financial insecurity.

Work with an Iowa Construction Accident Attorney

When you’ve been injured in a construction accident, the last thing you should have to worry about is money. If you need help obtaining workers’ compensation benefits or filing a personal injury claim against the person responsible for your injuries, speak with an attorney at our firm today.

At Pothitakis Law Firm, our construction accident attorneys have the utmost respect for our hardworking clients and refuse to let them be taken advantage of by insurance companies and left to deal with the consequences of their injuries alone.

Schedule your free, no-obligation consultation with an Iowa construction accident lawyer today by calling (319) 318-0450 or filling out the form on this page.