Catastrophic Construction Injuries – What Can Cause These Injuries And What To Do If You Are Injured

Catastrophic injuries are those that are generally very severe and often associated with loss of limbs, disfigurement or brain injury and/or damage. Catastrophic construction injuries require significant medical treatment, which is often long-term and quite complex. Even with this treatment, there is a very high probability that the patient may not completely recover and may require a lengthy hospital stay and rehabilitation. Some may even end up with a long-term disability.

Cause of Construction Injuries

1. Catastrophic injuries can occur when there is an unguarded hole in a work area, especially in the construction of multi-level buildings. Inadequate guarding of open holes is a serious violation of construction safety.
2. Another fall from a height, ladder, or crane. This also can often occur in the workplace. Some of these may be off the top of a building, and the injuries can be very severe, often life-threatening.
3. Slips on a wet or oily surface. This can occur due to a contractor’s negligence or through another subcontractor’s mistake or oversight. Slips and falls may also occur because of clutter placed in the walking paths.
4. Crush injuries are too common and can lead to compression of the hand, arm, leg, or the entire body. Workers have been known to get pinned by collapsing equipment and develop severe crushing injuries that are often permanent.
5. Being struck by an object, machinery, chemical splash or spray, reverse moving vehicles, and malfunctioning tools.
6. Electrocutions are not an uncommon cause of construction injuries. The worker may come in contact with an exposed electrical wire or the power line may have come in contact with or too close to a piece of metal equipment. Sometimes, the electrical wires may have fallen from overhanging areas into places where people work.
7. Fingers may get lacerated or amputated while working with a faulty saw or a poorly maintained power instrument.
8. Ladder accidents while carrying equipment are also very common and more likely to occur when the area is wet.
9. Despite intense regulations, scaffolding accidents do occur all the time. Scaffolding accidents may be due to the support giving way or lack of maintenance.
10. Injuries from power tools often occur as a result of failure to train workers or lack of personal safety equipment.
11. Vehicle-related catastrophic injuries can also occur at construction sites. The vehicle may run over or crush a worker. Vehicles like the forklift, dump trucks cranes, or backhoes have large blind spots and in some cases because of the heavy load may topple over and injure the workers.

Type of Catastrophic Injuries

The type of catastrophic injuries that can occur include the following:

• Severe head trauma leading to immediate loss of consciousness
• Amputation of the fingers, hand, arm or leg
• Severe burns from chemical spills to the face, arms or legs
• Crush injuries affecting arms, legs, or the entire body
• Abdominal and chest injuries may occur from fall or crushing injuries
• Spinal cord damage leading to permanent paralysis
• Death

Anytime a catastrophic injury occurs, the individual usually requires prolonged hospitalization and rehabilitation. Some people may not make it because of the seriousness of their injuries. Those who survive may require unique challenges during recovery and struggle to meet their financial obligations. In all cases of catastrophic injuries, the hospital bills can be astronomical, easily running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you or anyone has suffered a catastrophic injury, it is important to consult with a personal injury lawyer. A personal injury attorney can help you get compensated for all your injuries, pain, suffering, and even lost wages. Because there is a statute of limitations on filing these cases, time is of the essence. Call our personal injury law firm at Hare, Wynn, Newell and Newton LLP. Our attorneys know how to deal with cases that involve serious injuries with long-term complications. Talk to our personal injury lawyers today so that they can help you deal with this life-changing situation. Our legal team understands the challenges people can face when they have an injury, which changes their life completely. Many people cannot go back to work at all; others can go back but are unable to do the same work they did before they got injured. Entire families can get affected; relationships can break down. Catastrophic injuries are just that – catastrophic in nature. Call us today, and we will help you deal with the legal challenges of such an injury.