Construction workers who provide their services on a contract basis instead of having an employer are ineligible for workers’ compensation if they are injured on the job. To obtain compensation from the company, they may need to hire an accident lawyer to demand a settlement or file a lawsuit. To get started, an injured person may search online for a “construction accident lawyer near me in Phoenix, AZ.”
Comparative Negligence
One goal of a construction accident lawyer near me in Phoenix, AZ is to show the client was not at fault for what happened or only a small amount at fault. Arizona is a comparative negligence state regarding personal injury law. This means an injured person is eligible for compensation even if he or she was 99% responsible for the incident. However, any level of fault reduces the compensation by a certain percentage.
An Example
For example, the worker might have fallen from a roof because of not wearing safety equipment. This creates a certain percentage of negligent behavior. Nevertheless, the company is supposed to make sure all workers follow federally mandated safety procedures. That makes the supervisors, and thus the company, responsible for the accident as well.
Noncompliance With Federal Regulations
If the workers never were provided with safety gear, they might not be legally considered negligent at all. Many construction companies do not enforce federal safety regulations, assuming the chances of an accident are slim. Yet the risk of serious injury increases significantly when the rules are ignored.