Roof and Floor Collapses

White Plains Lawyer Helping Workers Injured in Construction Accidents

Partially completed buildings pose unique risks and dangers to the construction workers at the job site. These buildings may expose workers to serious hazards, including falling debris, improper construction, unfinished plumbing, or poorly secured ceilings. Construction workers in New York are protected by special labor laws that entitle them to bring a lawsuit for damages against a property owner or contractor, rather than depend on the limited remedies under the state workers’ compensation system. Roof and floor collapses pose particularly deadly threats because of the combined dangers of falling and being crushed. Seasoned White Plains construction accident attorney Mark Siesel helps injured workers and family members who lost a loved one in construction accidents.

Roof and Floor Collapses

Roof and floor collapse can catastrophically injure construction workers. These injuries may involve amputations, lacerations, internal bleeding, neck and spinal injuries, broken bones, fractures, crushing injuries, or traumatic brain injury. In some cases, workers will suffer fatal injuries. While workers are generally limited to recovering workers’ compensation benefits in connection with a work injury, Labor Law sections 200, 240 and 241 provide additional remedies for certain types of injuries at construction sites. A construction accident lawyer will be able to review the circumstances of your accident and advise which avenue offers the best possible outcome for success.

Section 200 Claims

Labor Law section 200 requires construction sites to be arranged, operated, conducted, or equipped to adequately protect workers’ lives, health, and safety. As a construction worker, you may be able to recover damages if a property owner or contractor creates a dangerous condition or has actual or constructive notice of a dangerous property condition that created an accident. For example, if a contractor fails to correct a known plumbing installation problem at a construction project that leads to a water leak and a roof collapse, the injured workers may sue for damages under section 200. Comparative negligence is a defense to a section 200 claim. This is a doctrine that may reduce the compensation available to an injured person if they were partly at fault for causing their injuries. Compensation is reduced in proportion to their degree of fault, if any.

Section 240 Claims

Section 240 or the Scaffold Law allows workers to recover damages when they are injured in gravity-related accidents at the site. Workers can recover when a contractor or owner does not provide appropriate safety guards or appropriately regulate worksite safety. For instance, if you suffered a traumatic brain injury when an improperly secured ceiling collapsed on you, you might have a claim under section 240. You can’t recover damages unless a violation is a proximate (legal) cause of the accident. A special feature of section 240 is that you are not barred from recovering compensation unless the defendant can prove you were entirely to blame for the collapse. This makes it a more valuable law to workers than section 200, which permits a reduction in damages based on worker fault.

Section 241 Claims

New York Labor Law section 241(6) is meant to be read in line with the detailed rules of Part 23 of the New York Industrial Code. You can hold an owner or contractor liable for violating a Part 23 rule that results in a roof or floor collapse that causes injuries. Section 23-1.24 includes several different rules related to work on roofs. For example, when you’re building or repairing a roof, and the roof extends more than 20 feet off the ground and there is no parapet of a certain height, you should be provided with a ground-supported scaffold. If you were catastrophically injured when a roof 30 feet off the ground collapsed with no ground-support scaffold, you may be able to recover damages under section 241(6).

Retain a Seasoned White Plains Attorney

Roof and floor collapses at construction sites in and around White Plains can leave construction workers with devastating injuries. If you were injured or a loved one was killed at a construction site, you should discuss your case with a lawyer to see if you have grounds to sue. You may have recourse under Section 200, 240 or 241(6). Mark A. Siesel represents construction workers in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens, as well as Westchester, Putnam, Kings, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, Rockland, and Ulster Counties. Contact us at (914) 428-7386 or complete our online form.