What Should I Do After I Am Injured Doing Construction Work?
On March 31, 2022, Metro Police responded to a workplace fatality on Kyle Canyon Road. While details have been scarce, OSHA was alerted, and the Review Journal has reported they have opened an investigation. Construction workers are often very vulnerable to exploitation. OSHA regulations, and other safety rules can sometimes be ignored on the job site. Employers may stress productivity over safety resulting in injuries. This can result in life changing injuries and even fatalities.
Las Vegas is often ranked in the top 20 of fastest growing cities in the nation. This growth results in a large number of construction workers working on projects across the valley. Construction work can be very dangerous, both due to employer negligence as well as accidents on the job site. Construction workers often suffer severe injuries due to accidents or can be left unable to work due to a lifetime of wear and tear. It is not uncommon for injured construction workers to leave their careers behind due to injuries on the construction site. If you have recently suffered a construction injury while on the job, you should contact an attorney to assist you in documenting your workplace injuries. Working with a skilled attorney familiar with these types of cases can help to guarantee you receive full compensation for your injuries.
Any work environment can have its risks, but these risks are often an everyday concern for construction workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has found construction work one of the most dangerous professions. In 2019 studies showed more than 200,000 construction workers injured on the job. Ideally, these injuries would heal quickly, but veteran construction workers know that any injury could prove to be career-ending.
Construction companies are well versed in avoiding workers’ compensation claims. Further insurance companies can be very hesitant to pay the full value of injuries on the job site. Catastrophic injuries common on job sites are both life-changing, and expensive. Long term medical care can be required.
Unfortunately, a successful workers’ compensation claim does not mean your life gets back to normal. You still have possibly life-changing injuries you sustained during construction work. Your entire work history may be doing construction or labor, and now you are left trying to figure out what is next. Injured workers often need assistance seeking both workers’ compensation and long-term social security disability.
What If I Am Unable to Return to Work After a Construction Accident?
If your doctors tell you that your injuries may prevent you from working, it is time to speak with a Social Security Disability Attorney. Social Security Disability is a program you have likely paid into as part of your wages. Work-related injuries are one of the most common reasons laborers are forced out of the construction industry and left unable to find other employment.
After your injury, most people are concerned with getting better. You do not have time to worry about contractors’ negligence or what your employer could have done differently. You are maybe thinking about how you need money to pay your bills and provide for your family. You are not likely thinking about the two-year process of Social Security Disability. This long delay is why it is vital to start filing early before your savings, and potentially any settlement for your injuries is spent to stay alive during the extended application period. A cash settlement may be the best they can hope for injured workers as nothing can repair the damage to their bodies.
With Social Security Disability, you must show that an injury or impairment must prevent you from returning to work for a period of time of at least one year. It does not necessarily need to be the rest of your life. If you sustained injures that get better and allow you to return to work on a construction site, that is a good thing. Disability even has rules that will enable you to attempt to return to work without losing your benefits. A work attempt that lasts six months or less is an unsuccessful work attempt and does not remove your benefits.
The important thing is to note wait to file for disability. It is better to start a potentially two-year process early before your savings are entirely depleted. Many workers injured doing construction work lose out on months and potentially years of benefits waiting to file, hoping things will get better.
Call us if you have been injured working construction at (702) 570-0000 or fill out the form. We will stand with you through every step of the workers’ compensation, personal injury, or social security disability process.