Protecting Your Rights in New Jersey
If you work on any type of high-rise construction, chances are good that you’ve been on a ladder or scaffolding for your job. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that two of every three construction workers regularly use scaffolding and even more get on a ladder. Unfortunately, falls from heights are consistently the single biggest cause of injury and death on jobsites, and most are preventable.
Among the common causes of ladder and scaffolding accidents are the following:
- The assembly of scaffolding or placement of ladders by untrained or unqualified workers
- The failure by contractors or others to properly maintain scaffolding or ladders or regularly inspect scaffolds and ladders for defects and other dangerous conditions
- The use of ladders or scaffolding in non-conforming or inherently dangerous ways
- The failure by contractors or owners to devise, implement and monitor policies or procedures for the proper and safe assembly, placement and use of scaffolding or ladders
- The design or manufacture of scaffolding or ladders that is defective or inherently dangerous
When you are injured on the job, you always have the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits for the carelessness or negligence of a co-worker or employer. However, if your injuries are caused, in any way, by the wrongful acts of an unrelated third party, you also may file a lawsuit in civil court for damages. In fact, you can file a workers’ compensation claim simultaneously with a personal injury lawsuit. The only caveat—you cannot recover twice for the same loss. If your workers’ compensation award covers the cost of medical care, you cannot recover medical expenses in a personal injury lawsuit.
Contact Attorney Howard D. Popper
To learn your options when you have been injured because of someone else’s carelessness, contact our office online or call attorney Popper at 973-993-8787. We have offices in Morristown and Newton but will come to your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We handle all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. You won’t be charged any legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.