What to Do After a Crane Accident in NYC

Here in New York City, cranes are a part of the landscape. Most of the time, contractors run the crane and finish their work without injuring anyone.

Yet cranes can pose a risk to construction workers and everyone else living here in the city. It’s important to understand the risks they pose and to know what to do if you’re caught up in a crane accident case.

Example Crane Accident Cases

Table of Contents

• Example Crane Accident Cases
• Who can sue after a crane accident?
• What are the most common crane accidents?
• Steps to Take After a Crane Accident
• Who is liable for your crane accident?
• Get Help Today

In all the cases below, both construction workers and bystanders died or sustained injuries.

• Six construction workers died, and 24 were injured in a New York City crane collapse in 2008.
• In Miami, a 20-foot crane section fell 30 stories, killing two construction workers and injuring five, also in 2008.
• In 2019, four people were killed, and four more were severely injured when a crane collapsed in Seattle, Washington.
• In 2019, three people were killed, and over 30 were injured after a crane collapsed at the New Orleans Hard Rock hotel.
• In 2019, one died, dozens were injured, and hundreds were left homeless after a crane crushed an apartment building in Dallas, TX.

You can find many other examples with ease.

Who can sue after a crane accident?

Almost anyone who is injured in a crane accident has the opportunity to sue.

Bystanders certainly have a case. They had nothing to do with the crane, and assuming they didn’t touch it, bring themselves into proximity with the crane by choice, or take a risk with the crane, they have a strong case for assigning 100% of the blame to the liable party.

It might surprise you, though, to learn that workers may be able to sue too. Construction workers can make a workers compensation claim covering a portion of their losses. Still, they may also have grounds for a third-party personal injury claim covering their losses.

What are the most common crane accidents?

Any piece of heavy construction machinery requires the utmost attention to safety and the utmost skill to handle correctly. Unfortunately, safety violations and employee errors cause the majority of crane accidents.

• Oversize loads
• Incorrect assembly
• Incorrect disassembly
• Victims struck by loads
• Victims struck by crane booms, jibs, or other crane parts
• Electrocution via overhead power lines
• Failure to properly secure the crane
• Ignoring wind speeds
• Workers caught in or between crane parts

All of these accidents are preventable. Many construction companies engage in safety violations. The Seattle crane collapsed after the construction crew removed bolts and pins. An investigation revealed that construction companies are engaging in this risky behavior as a matter of course to save time.

Fortunately, “all construction companies behave badly” will not be a viable defense in a crane accident case.

Steps to Take After a Crane Accident

You’ll take take same steps after a crane accident as you would after any other accident.

1. Seek medical attention.
2. Report the accident.
3. Gather contact information from witnesses.
4. Take pictures of the scene.
5. Follow physician instructions.
6. Maintain medical records.
7. Contact a personal injury attorney ASAP.

You can still call a personal injury attorney if you are too injured to take any steps after your crane accident. We can subpoena evidence, such as nearby camera footage and lists of people on the job site that day, and hire experts to help us reconstruct the accident.

Who is liable for your crane accident?

Construction accident cases can be complex because it can be challenging to identify the liable party. Still, we have good places to start.

The most common source of liability is the construction company. They are the ones operating the crane, and they are the ones responsible for ensuring that the crane is handled safely.

We’ve also succeeded in suing property owners, property managers, manufacturers, crane operators, maintenance workers responsible for inspecting the crane, and the construction project engineer.

In all cases, we’re looking for the person who made a mistake or violated the safety standard or standards which led directly to the accident.

The sheer number of entities involved in construction accidents is one reason workers may sue. You cannot sue your employer if your employer was responsible. You can only gain workers compensation. Yet your employer may not be the actual responsible party.

If that’s the case, your employer must still pay workers compensation because you were hurt on the job, but the third party must compensate you for whatever workers compensation did not cover.

Get Help Today

If you have been injured in a crane accident, we can help you obtain compensation. If you’ve lost a loved one in an accident, we can help you financially by helping you put together a wrongful death suit.

Understand that the large corporations likely to be responsible for a crane accident will not pay up without a fight. They’ll do everything in their power to minimize your settlement or to undermine your ability to receive compensation.

It takes an experienced attorney to inspect the evidence to ensure that these cases are compensated correctly. We look for OSHA violations, failure to maintain equipment according to industry standards, and other signs of negligence to give you the strongest case possible.

Contact our office to schedule a case review today.

See also:

How Do Scaffolding Injuries Happen?

Audit Finds NYC Department of Buildings is Failing to Protect Construction Workers on Building Sites

Workers Compensation Benefits May Not Be Your Only Remedy if Injured on the Job