Eugene Construction Accident Lawyers

How Construction Accident Lawyers in Eugene, OR, Can Help

Construction accident cases are complex, whether someone on the job or a third party causes the accident. You need a firm with experience in several fields, including workplace accidents, catastrophic accidents, and truck and big equipment accidents. A Eugene construction injury lawyer has experience in these fields and can ensure that you recover the compensation you deserve.

Construction accident cases have several deadlines, and the insurance companies involved are not forgiving. They will look for any reason to deny a claim or offer the least amount possible. Our attorneys will . . .

• Investigate the accident to determine who was at fault and gather evidence. More than one person or company could share in the responsibility for your injuries.
• Conduct negotiations with the insurance companies involved.
• Help you receive excellent medical care, including helping you find specialists for your specific injuries.
• Ensure that no deadlines go by. Missing deadlines could cause your case to be dismissed.

Instead of worrying about receiving enough compensation to cover your injuries, you should be concentrating on recovering. A Eugene construction injury lawyer takes on all the stress of seeking compensation, whether from the workers’ compensation system or settling with a third party, so you can concentrate on recovering.

Contact the Eugene construction accident lawyers at Strong Law Accident & Injury Attorneys today. Your initial case evaluation is always free and without obligation.

Common Causes of Construction Accidents

The types of accidents that happen on a construction site often cause fatalities. If not fatalities, they could cause catastrophic injuries. Some of the common construction accident causes include:

• Falling from heights. This happens if scaffolding and ladders are not safe, if a co-worker is not paying attention and knocks another worker off, or if safety harnesses are worn out.
• Electrocutions. During the construction of a building, wiring and unfinished electrical systems are often exposed. Contacting live power lines, whether from the utility company or an on-site generator, could cause serious injuries or even death from the electrical shock.
• Crush injuries. These are often caused when a worker gets caught between large objects or when a leg or arm becomes trapped in a machine. Less rare but more deadly is when a building collapses on workers.
• Object strikes. It’s easy enough for someone above you to drop a tool or building material. However, when something falls from two or more stories, it could cause severe or catastrophic injuries. If the falling object is big enough, it could even cause death.

In addition, other accidents could cause serious injuries or death, including:

• Trip or slip and fall accidents
• Heatstroke
• Overexertion
• Fires
• Explosions
• Motor vehicle accidents.

Even seemingly harmless tools could cause injuries. Drills, saws, or even screwdrivers could cause injuries.

What to Do After a Construction Accident

If possible, report the accident, no matter how minor. Trying to work through the injuries could cause additional harm. Additionally, working through injuries is not helpful for you or your employer.

As soon as you report the incident, seek medical attention. Always wait until a doctor clears you to go back to work, even for minor injuries. A minor injury could turn into something major. Seeking medical attention immediately starts a paper trail for workers’ compensation. If you do not document the incident with medical treatment, you might not receive any benefits.

Construction Accident Injuries

The injuries you could sustain on a construction site are varied. They could range from minor bumps and bruises to death. Construction accident injuries include:

• Cuts, scrapes, scratches, bumps and bruises
• Face and eye injuries
• Strains and sprains
• Pulled and torn muscles and other soft tissue injuries
• Head, neck and shoulder injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Hearing injuries, including deafness
• Simple and compound fractures
• Back and spinal cord injuries
• Internal injuries
• Chemical and thermal burns
• Amputation
• Crush injuries, including crushed bones and disfigurement.

You could also suffer secondary injuries, especially if you have pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or a compromised immune system from medications and treatments. Open wounds could take longer to heal and become severely infected. Thus, even minor injuries should receive medical attention.

Additionally, the person or entity at fault for your injuries is also responsible for exacerbating existing illnesses and conditions. If not for your injuries, you would not suffer additional pain and have more medical expenses for the pre-existing conditions, so the defendant is also responsible for the added pain and financial cost.

Recovering Damages After a Eugene Construction Accident

The construction accident attorneys in Eugene, OR, work to ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve. If you suffer catastrophic injuries that have or will become long-term disabilities, you need to make sure you recover enough money to cover medical expenses, lost wages and other damages for the rest of your life.

If you lost a loved one, you did not lose only companionship, but you also lost that household income and other benefits that a spouse or other loved one brought to your life.

Oregon statutes allow you to recover two types of damages: compensatory damages and punitive damages. The court orders compensatory damages in an attempt to make you whole again. Compensatory damages include into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages

Sometimes referred to as special damages, economic damages have a monetary value and include:

• Medical expenses: Doctor’s appointments, surgeries, prescriptions, follow-up appointments, hand controls for vehicles, ambulatory aids, cognitive therapy, psychological therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and upgrades to your home, including handrails, grab bars, ramps, and widened doorways.
• Lost wages.
• Loss of earning capacity if doctors expect your injuries to become long-term or permanent disabilities or if you lost a loved one in a construction accident.
• Death-related expenses, including funeral and burial expenses, cremation expenses, and probate costs.

Non-Economic Damages

Sometimes referred to as general damages, non-economic damages do not have set dollar value attached to them. It is more difficult to put a price on losses that include:

• Pain and suffering, including emotional distress.
• Loss of quality of life if you have to make life-long changes, such as taking prescriptions every day or using ambulatory aids.
• Loss of companionship if you can no longer enjoy time with your family or join in family activities and events.
• Loss of consortium if you can no longer enjoy a physical relationship with your spouse.
• Loss of use of a body part, such as an arm or a foot.
• Loss of use of a bodily function, such as your hearing, eyesight, or bladder.
• Inconvenience if you have to hire someone to do the chores you usually do, including home repair and maintenance, grocery shopping, lawn maintenance, and house cleaning.
• Amputation.
• Excessive scarring and/or disfigurement.

Punitive Damages

The court may order a defendant to pay punitive damages as a punishment for the defendant’s actions or inactions, but the plaintiff must be able to show that the defendant’s actions were grossly negligent or intentional.

While asking for punitive damages does lengthen the process, in some cases, it is worth the extra wait for the money, especially if you suffered catastrophic damages or lost a loved one in a construction accident.

Frequently Asked Questions for a Eugene Construction Injury Lawyer

Our clients often have some of the same questions regarding construction accident cases. We will try to answer some of them here. As always, if you have additional questions, do not hesitate to give our firm a call.