Kansas City Construction Site Accident Lawyer

Construction work is inherently dangerous. As a construction worker, you regularly interact with heavy machinery, use scaffolding, and work at dangerous heights. Hazards like the weather and even possible toxins like asbestos or lead can cause injury. When you’re working on a construction site, your employer has a responsibility to provide a reasonably safe environment. What happens when the employer fails in that duty of care to his employees? Our Kansas City construction site accident attorneys can help outline your possible legal options after a construction site accident.

Why Choose Us?

  • Our lead attorney, Mr. Samuel Wendt, is a Top 50 Super Lawyer in Kansas City and a Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyer (Thomas Reuters).
  • Our Kansas City personal injury attorneys do what is right and fair for each client. We take a personal approach to personal injury law, putting our clients first in all that we do.
  • Our Kansas City construction site accident lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. As our client, you will not pay for our services unless we win your case.
  • Our past case results show more than $100 million obtained for our clients. We do what it takes to achieve top results during construction site accident claims in Kansas City.

How Can a Construction Site Accident Lawyer Help?

Construction site accidents can involve confusing laws. These accident cases can invoke the rules of workers’ compensation, product liability, premises liability, vicarious liability, and more. You must also navigate statutes of limitations and comparative negligence laws. The easiest way to work through these laws while protecting your rights as an accident victim is with help from a construction site accident lawyer. Hiring an injury attorney gives you an edge during a construction site accident case. Your Kansas City construction site accident lawyer can effectively negotiate with insurance companies or take your case to trial in pursuit of fair injury compensation. You can focus on healing from your injuries while your Kansas City personal injury lawyer does the rest on your behalf.

The Workers’ Compensation System

The state of Kansas requires employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. This provides workers with valuable compensation when they sustain an injury on the job. This system does not require that you prove your employer was at fault for your injuries, you just need to prove you sustained your injury at work. On the other hand, collecting workers’ compensation benefits limits your ability to seek additional legal recourse against your employer. When you collect workers’ compensation benefits, you essentially forfeit your right to sue them for negligence.

What to Do After a Construction Site Accident

To have a valid claim, you must take certain actions to protect your right to file a suit. A construction site accident case requires you to preserve evidence, report your injuries, and follow all the laws connected to filing a claim to damages. Immediately following a construction site accident, take the following steps:

  • Tell your employer. They will be responsible for filling out the paperwork and submitting it to their workers’ compensation insurance company. As soon as you notice symptoms from an injury or incident at work, inform a supervisor.
  • Seek medical care. Your company may want you to visit an in-network provider, so ask them where to seek medical attention. No matter which healthcare professional you visit, tell them you sustained your injury on the job.
  • Follow all doctors’ orders and keep all appointments. Your company’s workers’ compensation company might be keeping tabs on your compliance, which could affect your claim. Keep all your appointments for medical and rehabilitative care.
  • Contact a Kansas City construction accident attorney. Though the workers’ compensation system is no-fault, you may still be able to collect compensation in a third-party claim. A construction site accident attorney can help you decide if you have legal grounds.

Contact the injury attorneys at Wendt Law Firm as soon as possible after a construction site accident. You or your attorney must act before the expiration of your state’s statute of limitations. A Kansas City construction site accident lawyer can walk you through all the steps it will take to bring a claim, as well as connect you to the best doctors in Kansas City, MO.

What Benefits Are Available Through Workers’ Compensation?

Filing a workers’ compensation claim can provide an important source of income during a difficult time in the aftermath of an injury. Workers’ comp can provide much-needed benefits without the burden of proving fault or negligence. An approved workers’ comp insurance claim in Kansas City, Missouri could lead to the recovery of several benefits related to a workplace accident.

  • 100% of your medical bills and health care expenses, including travel costs
  • Two-thirds of your average working wages, up to a maximum
  • Temporary partial or full disability benefits
  • Permanent partial or full disability benefits
  • Survivor benefits, including lost income and funeral and burial expenses

The full amount of your workers’ compensation benefits, as well as their duration, will depend on the specifics of your injury. Before you accept a workers’ compensation settlement, it is important to discuss the possibility of a personal injury lawsuit with an attorney. A lawsuit may result in greater compensation for your losses.

Third-Party Construction Site Claims

In certain instances, you may be able to file a claim above and beyond your workers’ compensation benefits. This applies when a third party may be responsible for your injuries. Examples of third parties on a construction site include vendors, sub-contractors, and manufacturers of heavy machinery. The following are examples in which you may be able to file third-party claims:

  • A subcontractor negligently installed roofing materials, causing you to fall.
  • A vendor failed to properly install scaffolding, causing it to collapse.
  • A manufacturer of a welding gun negligently distributed a defective batch and it malfunctioned, leading to injury.

These are simple examples of third-party construction claims. In reality, construction sites are busy places, and there is a chance that your injury may have been the result of third-party negligence. A construction site attorney can help you find the answers and help you gain compensation for your injuries and lost wages.

Common Construction Site Accidents

Although many different types of accidents can occur at construction sites, the nature of these work environments lead to certain incidents and injury types more often than others. Statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration show the four most common types of fatal accidents for workers at construction sites.

  1. Slip and Falls (33.5%)
  2. Struck by objects (11.1%)
  3. Electrocutions (8.5%)
  4. Caught-in/between objects or equipment (5.5%)

Construction site accidents in Kansas City often happen due to broken federal safety rules. The most commonly cited safety standard is lack of fall protection, such as personal devices workers can use to help prevent injuries, such as broken bones, spinal injuries or brain injuries should they fall. Other broken safety standards involve hazard communications, scaffold construction, respiratory protection, industrial tools, electrical components, and machine guarding. The construction company or another party may owe you compensation after one of these accidents.

Contact a Kansas City Construction Site Accident Attorney Today

Your claim begins with an initial consultation. To see if you have legal grounds for a third-party construction claim, please contact us. The construction site accident lawyers at Wendt Law Firm have years of experience and the resources you need for a strong claim to damages. Call (866) 539-4415 for a free consultation today.