Representing Construction Workers Injured in Hammond
Construction work requires skill, training, and trust. Workers rely on contractors to maintain safe jobsites, equipment companies to provide machinery that works properly, and other trades to perform their work without creating unnecessary dangers for everyone around them. When one of those responsibilities is ignored, a construction worker can suffer a serious injury in a matter of seconds.
At Allen Law Group, we represent injured construction workers in Hammond and throughout Northwest Indiana. We understand that a severe jobsite injury affects many aspects of your life. It can interrupt a career, reduce a family's income, require months of medical treatment, and leave a worker uncertain about whether they will ever be able to return to the same trade.
Our construction accident attorneys work to determine how the accident occurred, who was responsible, and what sources of compensation may be available to the injured worker.
Construction Injuries in Hammond and Northwest Indiana
Construction in and around Hammond includes commercial projects, industrial work, road and infrastructure improvements, utility projects, renovations, demolition, and work inside existing industrial facilities. These projects often bring several companies and trades onto the same site. Laborers may be working alongside electricians, ironworkers, operating engineers, pipefitters, carpenters, truck drivers, equipment operators, and employees of multiple subcontractors.
Each company has its own responsibilities. When safety breaks down between contractors, the worker who gets hurt may have had nothing to do with creating the danger.
Allen Law Group's construction injury attorneys represent workers injured in accidents involving:
- Scaffolding and elevated work platforms
- Ladders and temporary access systems
- Cranes, hoists, and rigging equipment
- Excavators, loaders, forklifts, and skid steers
- Falling materials and unsecured loads
- Trenches and excavation work
- Electrical hazards and energized equipment
- Defective tools and machinery
- Unsafe walking and working surfaces
- Collapsing structures or temporary supports
- Vehicle and equipment collisions
- Fires and explosions
- Inadequate fall protection
- Dangerous conditions created by another contractor
A worker may see only the immediate cause of the accident. Our responsibility is to look beyond that moment and determine what led to it.
Construction Accident Claims Can Involve Several Companies
Construction injury cases can be very different from accidents that occur in a workplace controlled by a single employer. A major project may involve a property owner, general contractor, construction manager, subcontractors, equipment rental companies, suppliers, engineering companies, trucking companies, and manufacturers.
That matters when someone is seriously injured. An injured employee may have rights through Indiana's worker's compensation system. Worker's compensation, however, does not necessarily address the responsibility of another company whose negligence caused or contributed to the accident.
When someone other than the worker's employer or coworker causes or contributes to an injury, there may also be grounds for a third-party liability claim. Our attorneys examine both.
We do not want an injured worker to miss a potential claim against a responsible contractor, property owner, equipment company, manufacturer, or other business simply because the injury occurred while that person was at work.
Investigating Responsibility After a Hammond Construction Accident
The conditions at a construction site can change almost immediately after an accident. Equipment is moved. Materials are removed. Crews continue working. Temporary structures are taken down. Repairs are made. Contractors may finish their portion of the project and leave the site. A timely investigation can make a substantial difference.
Allen Law Group works to preserve the information needed to understand how an accident occurred. Depending on the circumstances, that investigation may include jobsite photographs, incident reports, witness statements, safety documentation, training records, equipment inspection and maintenance records, project contracts, video footage, and records identifying which companies controlled the work being performed.
In more complicated cases, engineers, safety professionals, medical experts, vocational experts, or other specialists may be needed to explain how the accident occurred and how the injuries will affect the worker in the future. Our jobsite injury attorneys understand that the cause of a serious construction accident is not always obvious from the initial accident report. We investigate beyond the first explanation of what happened.
Falls From Heights and Elevated Work Areas
Construction workers routinely perform work on ladders, scaffolds, roofs, lifts, structural steel, platforms, and other elevated surfaces. Fall protection is especially important because the injuries from a construction fall can be permanent. Our attorneys represent workers who have suffered traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, fractures, nerve damage, shoulder injuries, back injuries, and other serious conditions after workplace falls.
Allen Law Group's work-related fall attorneys investigate the condition of the equipment involved, the work surface, available fall protection, site safety procedures, and the responsibilities of the contractors controlling that portion of the project. A worker should not have to bear the consequences of a fall caused by unstable scaffolding, unsafe ladders, unprotected openings, inadequate guardrails, defective safety equipment, or another preventable jobsite hazard.
Heavy Equipment Can Cause Catastrophic Injuries
Construction projects depend on powerful machinery. That same machinery can cause devastating injuries when it is operated carelessly, improperly maintained, used in an unsafe area, or designed without adequate safeguards. Excavators, cranes, forklifts, skid steers, loaders, lifts, dump trucks, and other construction equipment can expose workers to struck-by, caught-between, rollover, and crushing accidents. Allen Law Group handles equipment and machinery injury claims involving both the operation of equipment and failures within the equipment itself.
Depending on the accident, responsibility may extend beyond the operator. The investigation may involve the company that owned the machine, the contractor controlling its use, a maintenance provider, an equipment rental company, or the manufacturer. The distinction is important because identifying every responsible party can affect an injured worker's ability to recover compensation for the full impact of the injury.
Construction Workers Face Risks From Other Trades
One of the realities of a large construction project is that workers often depend on individuals they do not employ, and companies they do not control. An electrician may encounter a hazard created by another subcontractor. A laborer may be struck by equipment operated by a different company. An ironworker may be injured because rigging was improperly assembled. A pipefitter may enter an area where another contractor failed to properly secure equipment or materials.
These situations are one reason third-party investigations are so important after a construction accident. We examine the responsibilities of each company involved and how their work may have affected the conditions that existed when our client was injured.
Representing Hammond's Union Construction Workers
Allen Law Group has a long history of representing workers in the building trades and organized labor throughout Northwest Indiana. We represent Indiana union workers from a wide range of skilled trades, including laborers, ironworkers, carpenters, millwrights, operating engineers, electricians, pipefitters, piledrivers, and steelworkers.
Our firm's relationship with the trades extends beyond the cases we represent. Founding attorney Kenneth J. Allen worked as a piledriver, millwright, teamster, and railroad trackman before becoming an attorney and has been a longtime member of the Carpenter's Union. Other attorneys at the firm have worked in the trades or come from union families. That background gives us an appreciation for what is at stake when a physical injury threatens someone's ability to continue working in the career they spent years learning.
When a Construction Injury Threatens Your Career
Construction workers depend heavily on their physical abilities. A permanent back injury, damaged shoulder, serious hand injury, traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, amputation, or chronic pain condition may prevent a worker from performing the same duties even after medical treatment is completed. Returning to some type of employment is not always the same as returning to the career and income a worker had before the accident.
For that reason, we consider the long-term effect of an injury when representing our clients. A serious construction accident claim may involve losses associated with medical care, rehabilitation, future treatment, time away from work, reduced earning capacity, permanent physical limitations, pain and suffering, scarring, disfigurement, and changes to the injured person's daily life.
The effects on the family also matter. A person who worked overtime, cared for their home, coached their children's teams, enjoyed outdoor activities, or helped care for family members may suddenly be unable to do many of those things. Our role is to understand those consequences and present the full impact of the injury.
Protecting Evidence and Your Legal Rights
After an injury, medical treatment comes first. The accident should also be reported through the appropriate workplace procedures. When possible, information about the accident should be preserved. Photographs, witness names, information about the equipment involved, text messages, emails, and other records can later provide valuable evidence.
An injured worker should also be careful about assuming that every insurance representative involved in the claim has the same interests. On a construction project, different insurance companies may represent the employer, general contractor, subcontractors, property owner, equipment company, or other businesses. Each may be evaluating the accident from the standpoint of its own insured.
Having an attorney investigate the accident allows the injured worker to concentrate their attention on treatment and recovery while the legal and insurance issues are addressed.
Hammond Work Injuries Beyond Construction Sites
Construction accidents are only one type of serious workplace injury we handle in Northwest Indiana.
Hammond workers are also employed in manufacturing, transportation, utilities, rail operations, warehouses, industrial facilities, and other physically demanding occupations. Our Hammond work injury attorneys represent workers hurt in many types of workplace accidents throughout Hammond and Lake County.
For injuries that do not arise from employment, Allen Law Group also represents individuals and families through our Hammond accident attorneys.
Allen Law Group Understands Work-Related Injury Cases
Construction injury cases require more than identifying the injury and submitting medical bills. The work may involve determining which contractor controlled an area, reviewing contractual responsibilities, preserving evidence from an active project, examining equipment, evaluating safety practices, and identifying insurance coverage for several companies.
Allen Law Group concentrates exclusively on personal injury and wrongful death law and has experience representing injured workers throughout Indiana. We take the time to learn how the accident happened, how the injury has affected our client, and what the future may look like for that worker and their family.
Our clients should be able to focus on getting better while we focus on holding the responsible parties accountable.
Contact a Construction Accident Lawyer in Hammond, IN
A serious construction accident can leave a worker facing medical treatment, time away from work, lost income, and uncertainty about the future. When another contractor, property owner, equipment company, manufacturer, or other party caused or contributed to the injury, that responsibility should be fully investigated.
Allen Law Group represents injured construction workers throughout Hammond, Lake County, and Northwest Indiana.
Contact Allen Law Group to discuss your construction accident with an attorney. We can review the circumstances of the injury, identify potential sources of compensation, and explain the legal options available to you. There are no attorney fees until we win!
