Worker Sustains Fall and Injuries While Offloading Carpet
Falls from higher elevations are among the more common causes of construction accidents in Washington State and elsewhere in the nation. According to a news report in the Seattle Times, a man installing a carpet at a new hotel in the Lynnwood area was injured when he fell four stories from a window. The 45-year-old man was offloading carpet that was extended in the air four stories up from the outside of the building by a forklift. He fell off from the fourth floor to the sidewalk below as he was offloading the rolls of carpet. The extent of his injuries is not known.
Thousands of construction workers are seriously injured or killed as a result of suffering falls from construction accident sites. Sometimes, these falls occur because of the construction worker’s own carelessness or lack of caution. However, very often, falls occur because of an unsafe work environment or as a result of someone else’s negligence. Falls could occur because workers slip, as a result of loose or poorly constructed scaffolds or because of defective ladders or other equipment. In some cases, it could also happen because someone else was being negligent or inattentive.
In construction accident cases, workers will normally receive Washington worker’s compensation benefits from their employer. However, if the worker is seriously injured or cannot get back to work for a long time, these benefits are hardly enough to cover medical expenses and loss of wages. In such cases, the worker and his family might want to file a claim against a negligent party (other than the employer) who may have caused or contributed to the serious personal injury. Such claims, known as third party claims, may also be filed against the manufacturer of a defective product, which caused the injuries.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Washington construction accident, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury lawyers with The Bernard Law Group and find out how we can help with your Washington construction accident claim. Contact Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today for more information regarding your potential case.
