Temecula Construction Accident Lawyer
A construction accident can drastically change your life in a single moment. Too often, negligent safety lapses cost construction workers their livelihoods, health, and lives. In the aftermath, victims often require extensive medical care while trying to come to terms with emotional scars. Healing takes time, and financial resources help injury victims get essential treatments.
Don’t go it alone when vying for fair compensation after a preventable calamity at a careless job site. Call the Temecula construction accident lawyers at Sargent Law at 844-SARGENT. We will work to negotiate the best possible settlement from the complex web of insurance companies and liable parties.
Why Working in Construction Is So Dangerous
As Temecula personal injury lawyers, the team at Sargent Law understands the dangers construction workers face. Working in the construction industry can be extremely dangerous for several reasons:
- Height hazards – Construction frequently requires working at dangerous heights while on structures, scaffolding, ladders, and rooftops, raising the risk of devastating fall injuries or fatalities.
- Heavy machinery – Operating, assisting, or simply working near heavy construction equipment like bulldozers, cranes, and lift vehicles exposes workers to serious crushing injuries and amputations from improper use or malfunctions.
- Hazardous materials – Toxic substances like asbestos, lead, silica, and chemical solvents at many construction sites pose respiratory, skin absorption, and other health dangers to those without proper safety gear.
- Confined spaces – Electrical, maintenance, infrastructure, and excavation work often occurs in tight enclosed areas where hazards like limited oxygen, toxic fumes, fire danger, and entrapment risks exist.
- Site conditions – Chaotic, messy, loud job sites with numerous contractors make consistent safety oversight difficult, leading to accidents with debris, tools, noise, and tripping hazards.
- Strenuous activity – Physically demanding, repetitious jobs like tuckpointing, lifting, and digging over long hours contribute to exhaustion and ergonomic injuries common among construction laborers and trade workers.
Without strict safety protocols and oversight, those who build critical infrastructure cynically face some of the highest rates of work injuries, disabilities, and fatalities of any industry while enabling modern convenience.
Can You File a Claim for a Construction Accident in Temecula?
Yes, you can file a legal claim seeking compensation if you have suffered an injury in a construction accident in Temecula, California. As a construction worker, you have certain rights and options for pursuing damages under California personal injury law.
If negligent behavior by a property owner, general contractor, subcontractor, or other party contributed to your job site injury, you may be able to hold them liable with a personal injury lawsuit. Their insurance provider would then be responsible for covering compensation based on the details of your case.
How a Temecula Construction Accident Attorney Helps You Build a Strong Claim
A Temecula construction accident lawyer can help injured construction employees and contractors build and file a compelling legal claim by:
- Thoroughly investigating how negligence likely caused the accident
- Consulting with medical teams about the extent of injuries and prognosis
- Consulting with labor experts about how injuries impact employment ability and income
- Gathering eyewitness accounts, police records, photographic evidence
- Understanding California construction injury law and statute of limitations
Pursuing fair restitution is often the only path to financial stability for construction professionals facing months or years of recovery and rehabilitation after workplace disasters. An attorney well-versed in construction claims can make the process much less burdensome.
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Schedule NowWho Can Be Held Liable in a Temecula Construction Accident Claim?
Multiple parties in a construction accident claim may share legal responsibility depending on the specific details and causes of the incident. Potentially liable parties can include:
Property Owners
Owners of the construction site where the injury occurred can be named in a suit for negligence if site conditions, inadequate security against public access, or other factors directly contributed to the accident.
General Contractors
Contractors overseeing the construction project owe all subcontractors and laborers a “duty of care” under federal regulations and state statutes to directly control operations and maintain safe working conditions. Liability exists if their negligence caused the incident.
Sub and Independent Contractors
Any sub or independent contractors, vendors, or specialized trades working onsite whose defective equipment, unsafe practices, or faulty work led to the incident in question can be sued for construction negligence. For example, a crane subcontractor may be liable if rigging failure caused an object to strike employees below.
Government Agencies
On public works projects, government bodies managing infrastructure design and construction, like state departments of transportation or school development authorities, could also be named in lawsuits if negligence involving planning flaws or code violations is evident.
A construction accident attorney in Temecula can identify all potentially negligent parties who may share fault and legal responsibility depending on causation factors. If one or more parties are liable for your construction injuries, we will pursue them all to get you fair compensation. Call us at 844-SARGENT so we can begin the process of identifying the liable parties in your claim.
Types of Cases Our Temecula Construction Accident Lawyers Represent
Some of the most common types of serious or fatal construction accidents include:
- Falls – Falls from heights like ladders, scaffolds, beams, and roofs or onto debris result in traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, and death. Lack of fall protection is often involved.
- Struck-by or caught-in/between incidents – Workers may get crushed, trapped, or impaled by shifting girders, walls, falling objects, vehicles, or equipment. Improper site layout, unstable structures, and lack of hard hats/foot protection contribute.
- Electrocution and electric shocks – Construction workers may suffer shock/electrical burns from power lines, cords/tools, lightning, and underground wires. Poor training and lack of personal electrical protective equipment can contribute to injury and fatal accidents.
- Excavation and “trenching” collapses – Walls of deep trenches can bury victims when improperly shored, leading to suffocation.
- Heavy machinery accidents – Dump trucks, bulldozers, forklifts, and cranes cause terrible crushing injuries or amputations without proper operator credentialing, maintenance, and rights-of-way.
- Motor vehicle crashes – Speed and congestion on and around work sites endanger workers if they are near the traffic or driving company vehicles and construction machines. Poor traffic plans and reckless vehicle operation increase risks.
Adhering to OSHA and industry safety standards could prevent countless incidents. However, time pressures and lack of unified control across contractors and crews too often win over caution on active job sites where serious hazards remain underestimated.
The Statute of Limitations for Construction Site Accidents in Temecula Explained
If you were injured in a construction site accident in Temecula, it is crucial to understand the statute of limitations for filing a related personal injury claim. Here are the key filing deadlines:
Workers’ Compensation
All job site injuries must be reported to your employer, and you must initiate a workers’ compensation claim within 30 days of the incident. Failing to comply can jeopardize benefits and protection.
Workers’ compensation covers construction accident injuries for many construction workers, and victims typically cannot sue their employers under this agreement. However, there are exceptions to this, and it usually depends on the party that caused your harm.
Civil Injury Claims
According to CCP § 335.1, for construction injuries caused involving negligence or liability of any potentially responsible parties (general contractor, architect, sub-contractor, etc.), you have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim. Strict time limits apply even if disability or complication from the original injury manifests later.
A lawyer can tell you if workers’ compensation or a third-party claim is the right option for you.
Wrongful Death Claims
CCP § 335.1 also states that if the construction accident resulted in the death of the worker, surviving family members have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Consider taking on legal counsel from a construction accident attorney serving Temecula immediately when a serious injury occurs. Preparing a case, gathering evidence, and filing documentation can take a lot of time, so the sooner you reach out, the better.
It’s free to speak with us and learn the value of your case today.
Call Us NowHow a Temecula Construction Accident Attorney Can Help You
A construction accident attorney in Temecula can help injured workers or grieving families in the aftermath of worksite disasters in the following ways:
- Thorough investigation – An attorney will obtain police reports, witness testimony, construction records, and surveillance footage to determine what safety laws or procedures were violated and pinpoint who bears responsibility. This allows us to gather evidence to prove negligence.
- File legal paperwork – The attorney handles the often complex filings like OSHA complaints against builders, workers’ compensation claims, time-sensitive personal injury demand letters to negligent parties to pursue restitution, and any necessary civil litigation if a fair settlement isn’t reached.
- Maximize compensation – Lawyers will quantify current and all future medical costs based on the extent of your injury, calculate lost wages and reduced earning capacity from disability, account for pain and suffering, and ensure you receive the maximum damages you deserve.
- Negotiations and litigation – If needed, our accident attorneys have the experience to represent clients in settlement meetings, mediations, binding arbitrations, and courtrooms if those liable refuse reasonable offers. This saves the client excessive hassles.
Recovering damages won’t make up for serious harm and losses in tragic construction accidents. However, legal support can help you balance the scales after negligence causes accidents on construction sites in Temecula.
Get a Free Consultation With a Temecula Construction Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one has been injured or disabled in a preventable construction accident in Temecula, it’s time to exercise your legal rights. The Temecula construction injury attorneys at Sargent Law offer free, no-obligation consultations to discuss your accident details and determine if negligence caused this life disruption.
With a proven record of results, Sargent Law can stand up to contractors’ insurance providers and at-fault parties to fight for the highest compensation you deserve. We can assess potential financial remedies covering extensive medical treatment, lost income, pain and suffering, and changed future capacity. Call 844-SARGENT to get started.