Construction Accident Injures 5 at UConn
On March 14, the CT Post reported that five people were injured at the UConn Health Center in Farmington. The CT Post did not indicate how serious the injuries were; however, emergency personnel were reportedly on the scene of the accident. The incident was described as a construction accident and those injured were performing work.
Our Hartford, CT accident lawyers know that construction accidents can often cause very serious injury. In many cases, when an injury happens on a construction site, significant legal complications can also occur as a result.
Construction Accident Injures Five
The March construction accident at UConn occurred in the school’s Research Development Center. A spokesperson for the school interviewed by the CT Post indicated that the Research and Development Center is currently in the process of being remodeled. Workers were making progress on the remodeling work when ceiling tiles started to come down. Five of the workers suffered injury as a result of the falling ceiling tiles, necessitating medical treatment and a response from emergency personnel.
The CT Post reported that no one was evacuated, even after the ceiling tiles began to fall, because the building is considered structurally sound. While the building as a whole may be sturdy and present no risk to other workers, the fact remains that five people got hurt on the job and may have financial and other losses because of it.
Construction Accidents and Workers’ Rights
When someone gets hurt on the job, the law aims to make sure that he or she is not left financially ruined as a result of a work injury. The law established a workers’ compensation system, which is considered an exclusive remedy system.
Basically, under workers’ comp, you can get compensation only through workers’ comp, and you cannot sue. Your coverage is a little broader because you don’t have to prove your employer was negligent, but you also don’t get damages for things like pain and suffering.With many construction accidents, however, there is an alternative to workers’ compensation. If there was any third party who was responsible in any way for causing the injury as a result of negligence, then a work injury claim can be made against the third party. This can take the form of a standard personal injury lawsuit, with its broader financial recovery as compared to workers’ compensation.
A third party responsible for a construction site injury might include a non-employer project manager overseeing the construction; an architect or engineer responsible for design or construction supervision; or the manufacturer of equipment that malfunctioned and led to the injury. Those who have suffered more serious injury should be entitled to appropriate compensation, either through workers’ comp or through a lawsuit. Incidents like the ceiling falling on the workers’ head are not isolated incidents. Falling objects and workers who are struck by objects are among the most common causes of fatal work accidents each year.