Crane Accidents

When crane accidents on job sites occur in and around Rockland County, construction workers can suffer serious or fatal injuries. Crane accidents can happen when cranes make contact with objects or equipment, when someone falls from a crane, when a crane makes contact with an electrical wire, or even during the transportation of a crane from location to another. Because cranes are typically the largest piece of equipment on a work site, accidents involving cranes can result in serious construction accident injuries. Those who are injured on the job in a crane accident may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Rockland County crane accident lawyer Valerie J. Crown, Attorney at Law, can help you understand your legal rights following a crane-related injury.

Crane accidents may be caused by numerous reasons: improper set up, lack of training, bad weather, and misuse of the crane. Regardless of the cause of the accident, a person who is hurt in a crane accident while performing his or her job will, most likely, be covered by workers’ compensation laws that require employers to provide certain benefits to employees who are hurt at work. These benefits include medical care, temporary disability benefits, and, if the employee suffers some degree of permanent disability because of the accident, permanent partial or permanent total disability benefits. The accident may also result in a third-party claim as explained below.

Following the proper process for filing a claim for benefits under New York’s workers’ compensation laws is very important. The first step is for the injured worker to notify the employer of the accident and the injuries suffered as a result. The process usually starts when the employee seeks medical treatment at the employer’s expense (or that of its workers’ compensation insurance company). A crane accident attorney in Rockland County can guide you through each step of this process. A worker hurt in a crane accident at his or her place of employment should not have to use his or her own medical insurance or self-pay in order to be treated for injuries suffered in the accident. There are other steps to the process, such as filing a claim, but the giving of notice is the first (and perhaps most essential) step to starting a workers’ compensation claim.

The employee has a right to be represented by a lawyer of his or her own choosing at any time during the workers’ compensation claims process. An experienced attorney can help the employee understand what must be done in order to secure benefits, explain the process in more detail, and advocate for the injured worker if the employer or its insurance company attempt to deny the claim, wrongfully terminate the injured worker’s benefits, or downplay the seriousness of the worker’s injuries to the workers’ compensation board.

While workers’ compensation benefits are often the exclusive remedy for someone who is hurt on the job in a crane accident, there are a few exceptions. For instance, if the person who was hurt in a crane accident was in a line of work not connected to the crane or the employer that was using the crane, he or she may file a third-party personal injury claim with the assistance of a Rockland County crane accident attorney. An example of this might be if the injured worker is not employed by the owner of the construction site or the general contractor of the project. The injured worker may be able to file a traditional negligence claim against the owner or general contractor but will probably have to repay some of those benefits if he or she was successful in the third-party negligence case. Another example of a third-party case, that would fall outside of the general exclusivity of workers’ compensation benefits, would be a product liability lawsuit against the maker of a defective or unreasonably dangerous crane.

If you would like to talk to an experienced attorney about your case, please contact the Law Firm of Valerie J. Crown, Attorney at Law, P.C., at 845-598-8253 or through this website. We assist injured workers in Rockland, Westchester, Orange, Dutchess, and Putnam Counties, as well as those in the Greater Metropolitan area, as they go about the process of seeking fair compensation for harm. If you like, you can contact Valerie’s cellphone 24/7 at 845-598-8253 to get advice from a knowledgeable crane accident lawyer in Rockland County. We also handle personal injury cases, including car accidents, nursing home neglect and abuse cases, medical malpractice, and dental malpractice, as well as Social Security Disability cases.