Austin Construction Accident Attorneys

Construction Fatalities & Injuries

Construction is a high-hazard industry in which workers may encounter elevated surfaces, heavy equipment, electrical systems, trenches, and moving vehicles. Serious incidents can create immediate medical needs while raising complex questions about site control, safety responsibilities, insurance coverage, and third-party conduct.

OSHA identifies four leading construction fatality hazards: falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or between incidents, and electrocutions.

OSHA is the federal agency charged with overseeing workplace safety and conducting job-site inspections. An OSHA inquiry and a civil injury claim serve different purposes, however. Our legal investigation focuses on preserving construction site evidence, identifying potentially responsible parties, and documenting the harm caused by the accident.

Four Leading Construction Accident Hazards

The four leading hazard categories cover many of the incidents that occur on active job sites. The precise cause matters because it can point to the companies, equipment, work practices, or dangerous conditions that require further investigation.

Common incidents within these categories include:

• Falls: Accidents involving roofs, scaffolds, ladders, elevated platforms, floor openings, and unprotected edges.
• Struck-By Incidents: Collisions involving vehicles, cranes, tools, materials, and other moving or falling objects.
• Caught-In or Between Incidents: Injuries involving trenches, machinery, collapsing structures, and crushing points.
• Electrocutions: Contact with power lines, electrical equipment, temporary wiring, or inadequately grounded systems.

Training, safety guards, protective equipment, inspections, and equipment maintenance may bear on how an accident happened. The investigation must also consider which company controlled the relevant work and whether another party created or knew about the condition.

Construction injuries can be serious and life-altering, causing financial and emotional hardship for the injured worker and their family. Treatment may include emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, assistive devices, or long-term support. The legal impact of an injury depends in part on how it affects work capacity, daily activities, medical needs, and quality of life.

Examples of severe injuries that can occur at construction sites include:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
• Spinal cord damage with paralysis
• Serious fractures, including open fractures, comminuted fractures, and skull fractures
• Internal organ damage and internal bleeding
• Facial injuries and scarring
• Loss of limbs, fingers, and toes
• Burn injuries from electrocution, explosions, or fires

Steps to Take After a Construction Site Injury

Medical care comes first after a job-site accident. The steps taken afterward can also create important records of the incident, the resulting injuries, and the people who witnessed what happened.

When your condition and the circumstances allow, take these steps:

• Seek Medical Care: See a doctor promptly and describe how the accident occurred and where you’re experiencing symptoms.
• Report the Injury: Notify your immediate supervisor and keep a copy of the written report with any signatures.
• Identify Witnesses: Write down the names and contact information of anyone who saw the incident or the conditions leading to it.
• Document the Scene: If it’s safe, photograph the accident area, equipment, warning signs, and visible conditions without changing or destroying evidence.
• Avoid Admitting Fault: Don’t apologize or speculate about responsibility before the facts have been investigated.
• Get Legal Advice: Call Briggle & Polan, PLLC to schedule an interview with a construction accident lawyer in Austin.
• Review Documents Carefully: Don’t sign releases, waivers, broad medical authorizations, or settlement documents without legal advice.

Workers’ Compensation, Nonsubscriber & Third-Party Claims

Texas employers may or may not carry workers’ compensation coverage. When coverage applies, an injured employee may be eligible for benefits without proving that the employer caused the accident. The benefits available and the limits on claims against an employer depend on the employer’s coverage status and other facts.

If an employer doesn’t carry workers’ compensation insurance, the injury may involve a Texas nonsubscriber claim. Different legal rules apply to these cases, so we review the employer’s insurance status rather than assuming that workers’ compensation controls every construction injury.

Third-Party Liability

When you meet with us at Briggle & Polan, PLLC, we review available workers’ compensation information and investigate whether a separate party contributed to the accident. Texas law may allow an injured worker or qualifying legal beneficiary to pursue a liable third party while workers’ compensation benefits are also involved. Subrogation rules, which may give a workers’ compensation carrier a right to reimbursement from a third-party recovery, can affect how the claims interact.

Potential third parties may include:

• A general contractor or subcontractor
• The owner of the property
• A company hired to maintain or repair equipment used at the site
• The manufacturer of a defective tool or piece of heavy equipment
• An architect or engineer involved in the project
• A scaffolding provider responsible for installation

A party’s presence on the project doesn’t automatically make it liable. Claims against property owners, contractors, equipment companies, and other parties depend on control, knowledge, conduct, contractual relationships, and the available evidence. We investigate those issues before determining which claims the facts support.

Recoverable Construction Accident Damages

In a qualifying legal action against a third party, the injured person may pursue economic and noneconomic damages. Available compensation depends on liability, the severity and duration of the injuries, medical needs, work impact, and supporting evidence.

Economic damages can include losses documented through bills, receipts, and payroll records:

• Medical treatment costs, including hospitalization, doctor visits, prescriptions, and medical devices
• Lost earnings and benefits, both current and future
• Rehabilitation costs
• In-home care and services for tasks the injured person can no longer perform

Noneconomic damages address personal effects that aren’t measured by a bill:

• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Loss of companionship and society
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Past and future pain and suffering
• Mental anguish

A construction accident that causes a wrongful death may give qualifying family members or the estate separate legal options under Texas law. These claims involve different parties, procedures, and categories of damages than an injured worker’s individual claim.