Accidents On Construction Sites

Builders and other construction site workers are essential for the growth and evolution of our country; however their jobs are far from risk free as one might expect. Whilst there is regulation in place to help to protect workers and also construction site visitors, if these regulations are not properly adhered to, serious injuries may be allowed to happen, allowed being the operative word. If you or somebody that you know have suffered from an injury whilst working on or visiting a construction site, then you, or they, may be eligible to make a claim for compensation.

Preventing accidents on the site

Accidents can always happen, accidents on a construction site are likely to be more serious because of the general nature of the working environment. Health and Safety regulations in the workplace are designed to remove risks wherever possible, and to minimise risk in scenarios where risks are completely unavoidable.

Ways to remove or minimise risk can include giving suitable personal protective equipment to workers, making sure that all workers have had adequate training to allow them to use dangerous machinery, and carrying out regular maintenance checks on equipment to ensure that they are safe to use. Failing to abide by this regulation can put workers in unnecessary danger, and as such, any accident which occurs on a construction site because of this failure will be the fault of the employer.

If a person is injured on a construction site, it is usually up to the site owner to prove that all necessary precautions were taken to prevent that accident from occurring. Most sites will keep documentation to show their efforts to reduce and remove risk. If they cannot prove that they had previously attempted to mitigate the risk, then a claim against them stands more chance of being successful. In some circumstances, employers or site owners are able to show that an accident victim wilfully ignored health and safety advice, or bypassed specific safety features. If an employer is able to prove that this occurred, they may be able to reduce the victim’s chances of making a successful claim.

Making a claim

If you suffer an accident on a construction site, make sure that you report it to the site manager straight away, so that it can be logged in the accident book.

If you are well enough, you may want to take photos of the accident site to help you to document what happened. You may also want to take the contact details of anyone who may have seen your accident. Get in contact with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to discuss whether you are eligible to make a claim. Although you will have up to 3 years to make a claim after your accident, it is usually better to start your claim as soon as possible, because it is much easier to gather evidence at this stage, and the details of the accident are more likely to be fresh in your mind.

At the initial consultation session, your legal advisor will be able to make an estimate of how much your claim may be worth, and then if you have a firm chance of getting compensation it’s up to you whether or not you’d like to proceed with making a claim.