Dangerous Machinery Accidents

Lawyer Helping Injury Victims in Westchester County and Beyond

As a construction worker, you may need to use machinery to do your job. Machinery used on a construction site is often heavy and powerful. Even a little mistake can result in dangerous machinery accidents. Workers’ compensation benefits may be insufficient for the serious injuries that may be sustained. Special labor laws apply to construction accidents in New York; application of these laws may entitle you to recover damages.

If you were injured or a loved one was killed, you should talk to experienced White Plains construction accident lawyer Mark A. Siesel. Our entire team at The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel is here to help you, so contact us for a free consultation.

Dangerous Machinery Accidents

Many different types of dangerous equipment and machinery may cause serious or catastrophic injury. These machines include pile drivers, bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, dump trucks, paving machines, forklifts, road graders, and snowplows. If you were injured or a loved one was killed at a construction site as a result of an accident involving these or other types of machines, you should look into whether you can sue for damages.

Dangerous machinery accidents can include:

Crushing injuries. Workers can become trapped between machine components or caught in operational mechanisms, often resulting in crushed extremities, potential limb loss, severe tissue damage, and in the most serious instances, loss of life.

Impact scenarios. Materials ejected from equipment or direct machine-to-person contact frequently leads to head trauma, bone fractures, damage to vital internal structures, and extensive bruising.

Stability failures. When heavy construction equipment such as diggers, loaders, or lifting platforms overturn, they may trap operators or nearby workers, potentially causing spinal damage, mobility loss, internal bleeding, or fatal crushing injuries.

Falls. Workers who fall while climbing onto or off equipment, or who fall while on elevated machinery platforms, commonly experience broken bones, back injuries, head trauma, and ligament or tendon damage. Even slip and falls on even ground can lead to significant head injuries, fractures, and other injuries.

Electrical incidents. Machinery touching overhead wires or damaged electrical components can subject workers to serious burns, heart rhythm disturbances, nervous system damage, and breathing difficulties.

Equipment breakdown incidents. Sudden mechanical failures create unpredictable hazards resulting in cuts, breaks, crush injuries, and penetrating wounds from failed components.

Equipment movement accidents. Hazards during machine transportation or repositioning include worker-vehicle collisions and situations where moved equipment falls on workers. These injuries can result in blunt force trauma, neck injuries, and compression wounds.

Moving parts entanglement. When clothing, hair, or body parts become wrapped around or pulled into rotating mechanisms, workers suffer skin injuries, broken bones, and severe muscle and tissue damage. In the most severe instances, workers can be pulled into machinery or crushed.

Exposure.  Demolition of older buildings can expose workers to toxic materials, including lead paint, asbestos, and other materials that can cause workers to develop serious illnesses, including cancer. Any work site can also expose workers to dangerous, corrosive chemicals that can cause respiratory damage when breathed in or scarring if spilled on the skin.

Machinery accidents on construction sites create watershed moments that alter career trajectories and personal lives. These incidents force capable construction professionals to navigate unfamiliar territories involving physical limitation, ongoing pain, financial worries, and trauma.

Workers may need to deal with complex medical concerns while dealing with financial challenges brought on by healthcare costs and income reduction at the same time. Families suffer when household providers can no longer maintain previous employment. Many survivors confront permanent disability requiring continuous care and major changes to everyday life. In addition to these challenges, many workers develop trauma responses, mood disorders, or anxiety conditions that continue long after physical recovery plateaus.

These life-changing events highlight why working with a construction accident attorney is important. In many cases, the total costs of an injury may be higher than you expected. In addition, you already have everything else to deal with after an injury; you shouldn’t have to deal with complicated insurance and legal claims processes, too. An experienced attorney removes this burden from you and seeks fair financial compensation for you, so you have the resources to pay for the care and support you need.

Do You Have a Lawsuit?

You may be able to hold an owner, contractor, subcontractor, maintenance company, manufacturer, or seller responsible for your injuries. It’s important to talk to an attorney who has experience with lawsuits under Section 200, Section 240, and Section 241(6).

Section 200

You may have a claim under Labor Law section 200. This law is broad in scope. It’s a codification of the negligence standard. Contractors and owners are required to provide employees and visitors with a reasonably safe work environment in connection with machinery and equipment and other conditions. Owners and contractors should ensure all machinery, as well as equipment and devices, are guarded, operated and positioned so that they’re secure. If, for instance, you work for a concrete subcontractor and a machine is left unguarded by the general contractor, and your arm is amputated as a result of the lack of guards, you may be able to sue the contractor for damages.

Section 240

Section 240, also known as the Scaffold Law, establishes protection for workers who are injured as a result of working at heights or being hit by falling objects from a height. Contractors and owners are supposed to provide all workers with safety guards and measures. These can include safety railings and barricades. Any scaffolding should hold four times the amount of weight it is expected to withstand. Contractors and owners that don’t provide workers with sufficient safety devices and worksite regulations to avoid harm to workers as the result of falls or falling objects may be held absolutely liable under the Scaffold Law. For instance, if a scaffold collapsed, resulting in heavy machinery being dropped onto you while you are working below, and one of your limbs is crushed, you may be able to hold accountable the contractor for the project. Usually your own negligence will not bar you from recovering damages, unless you were fully responsible for the accident.

Section 241(6)

New York Labor Law section 241(6) provides that areas where machinery is used should be constructed, equipped, shored, arranged, guarded, conducted and operated with attention to reasonably safeguarding and protecting workers and lawful visitors. This law’s purpose is effectuated through extensive rules set forth under Part 23. An owner or contractor can be held accountable for any rule violation that leads to a machinery accident without the owner’s or contractor’s negligence needing to be established. For instance, Subpart 23-9 covers power-operated heavy machinery or equipment used to demolish, construct and excavate. Under § 23-9.2, those operating material-handling equipment shouldn’t leave that equipment while blades, buckets or loads are suspended. Rather, loads are supposed to be lowered to the ground or other similar surface when the operator leaves. If, for instance, you were injured by a blade that was suspended while the operator was taking a bathroom break, you might have a claim under section 241(6).

Retain a Lawyer in White Plains

Workers can sustain catastrophic injury or even death as a result of dangerous machinery accidents. If you were injured in the New York City area or the Hudson River Valley, you should talk to seasoned attorney Mark A. Siesel about your options. You may be able to obtain relief under Section 200, 240 or 241(6) of the New York State Labor Law.

At The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, we work with board certified, independent medical professionals, as well as engineers, investigators, and other professionals who can help us investigate your accident and build a strong case. We have decades of experience helping injured people just like you. In addition to our track record of securing compensation for those who are injured, we’re most proud of our relationship with our clients. We treat clients with respect, always answering emails and calls within 24 business hours, and in many cases on the same day.

Our firm represents construction workers in White Plains, Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, as well as other cities in Westchester County and Kings County, and the counties of Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, Rockland, and Ulster. Contact us online or at (914) 428-7386 for a free consultation.