Workers’ Compensation for Injuries from Scaffolding Accidents

If you have been injured in a workplace accident on a construction site, the Delaware workers’ compensation attorneys at Silverman, McDonald & Friedman are here to represent your interests and help you to claim the benefits you need while you recover from being injured. You are welcome to contact us to schedule your consultation with a Newark, Seaford or Wilmington workers’ compensation attorney today.

Construction sites are like the perfect storm when it comes to all of the elements required to create a dangerous working environment. When you combine heavy equipment, power tools, toxic substances and dangerous materials with workers doing their jobs while standing on precarious scaffolding structures, it really is no wonder how many construction site accidents occur each year in the United States. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) reports that about 2.3 million construction workers, or about 65 percent of those who work in the construction industry, work on scaffolds. Each year there are about 4,500 injuries and more than 60 deaths from scaffolding-related accidents. OSHA estimates that more than $90 million in workdays lost, and about 72 percent of the injuries suffered because the planking support gave way, the worker slipped or was struck by a falling object could be prevented if employers complied with OSHA standards and regulations.

Scaffolding structures are intended to be temporary. They serve as a platform for construction workers who need to be raised up in order to build, repair or clean higher parts of a building. Scaffolds are built using metal poles and wooden planks, and because the structures raise the workers up above ground level, there is the risk that comes from falling off the scaffold, the scaffolding structure itself failing, or objects from above falling on the workers standing on the scaffolding. If there are people working beneath the scaffolding, there is also the risk of them becoming crushed if the structure collapses.

Common types of injuries from scaffolding-related construction accidents

Given the nature of what a scaffold is – a temporary structure that stands more than six feet off of the ground that can weigh anywhere from hundreds to thousands of pounds – when a worker suffers a scaffolding-related injury, some of them can be quite severe:

• Amputations
• Bone fractures
• Damage to internal organs
• Spinal cord injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries

Factors that can cause scaffolding accidents

There are many factors that might contribute to a scaffolding accident on a construction site, or on the site of a completed building that is being cleaned, painted or repaired, including:

• Improper construction of the scaffolding
• Weather conditions
• Workers falling from the scaffold
• Objects falling on the workers
• Scaffold failure caused by overloading of the structure
• Workers not having adequate fall protection
• Defective parts used in the scaffolding construction

Even in a perfect world where every construction site employer followed every conceivable OSHA rule and regulation, the risks associated with working on and around scaffolding can never be fully mitigated, and workers will suffer injuries. Construction workers in Delaware who sustain injuries while they are doing their job may be able to file for workers’ compensation benefits.

After an injured worker reports the workplace accident to their employer, seeks medical attention and files a workers’ compensation claim, they may be eligible for a partial wage replacement disability payment each week. Their medical expenses related to the workplace accident re also covered by workers’ compensation. If a worker should die during a workplace accident, workers’ compensation will pay death benefits to the surviving family members. In the event of the loss of use of an eye, a hand or a limb, or permanent disability from an occupational injury or disease, workers’ compensation compensates the injured worker for that loss.

Have you been injured in a scaffolding accident? At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, we protect our clients’ rights and help them to get the compensation that they deserve when they have been injured at work or are suffering from an occupational disease. You may call 302-888-2900 or fill out our contact form to make an appointment for a consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Wilmington, Newark or Seaford today. We can help.