How to Prove Liability for Negligence in Workplace Accidents

When you are injured in the workplace, it is possible a third party or your employer are partly or fully liable for your injuries. Potentially liable parties include:

• Your employer if they failed to provide the appropriate training or personal protective equipment
• Other contractors or subcontractors working on-site who failed to follow the proper safety precautions
• Manufacturers that produced a defective part or piece of equipment
• Construction site property owners who failed to implement appropriate property management protocols
• A driver who hit you at a roadside construction site
• A commercial driver who hit you while delivering equipment or materials to your job site

Many construction site negligence cases involve multiple liable parties that each contributed to the accident that caused your injuries. For example, if your employer failed to provide appropriate fall protection for you to work on a tall ladder and a subcontractor backed into the ladder with a piece of equipment, causing you to fall, both parties would share liability for the incident.

Proving Negligence by Your Employer or a Third Party

There are four essential parts of proving negligence in an injury case. You must be able to prove:

• The defendant owed a duty of care
• The defendant breached their duty
• You suffered losses due to your injuries
• Your losses were caused by the defendant’s breach of duty

Your construction accident attorney can help you gather evidence for your claim and build a case against your employer or a third party for negligence that led to your injuries.

Workers’ Compensation 

Most employer’s carry workers’ compensation insurance.  Texas is the only state that doesn’t require employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. If your employer carries the insurance, you likely won’t be able to file a lawsuit against them for negligence. Instead, you need to file a claim for workers’ comp benefits. Make sure you seek medical attention immediately after the accident and report your injury within 30 days of the incident.

If your employer doesn’t have workers’ comp coverage and their negligence led to your injuries, you might be able to file a lawsuit against them. However, where workers’ comp offers temporary disability payments while you’re out of work, a lawsuit can take over a year, and you may not be able to pursue another source of income due to your injuries.

Contact an Experienced Construction Accident Attorney 

Construction site negligence can lead to career-ending injuries that affect your earning capacity for the rest of your life. For help with construction accident cases, contact us at Fadduol, Cluff, Hardy & Conaway, P.C. We’ve represented victims of accidents at construction sites since 1984. Call us at 800-433-2408 or contact us online to schedule your free consultation at any of our offices, Lubbock and Odessa, TX or Albuquerque and Hobbs, NM..