Construction equipment and Machinery

Construction equipment and machinery is often to blame for construction worker accidents. Actually, not the equipment itself, but those who designed it, maintained it, or used it improperly. Forklifts accidents, backhoe accidents, scissor lift accidents, masonry machinery accidents, hydraulic jack accidents, crane accidents, front-end loader accidents, boom accidents - all these and many more construction machines and equipment cause innumerable accidents and injuries every year in New York and elsewhere. But almost all circumstances, these accidents are not just “accidental”. They are caused by someone’s negligence or carelessness. Construction machinery and equipment is safe only when (1) it is designed and manufactured safely; (2) the workers who use the construction equipment and machinery are properly trained and supervised; (3) the workers who use the construction equipment and machinery do so safely and properly; (4) the construction equipment and machinery is properly maintained; and (5) the construction equipment and machinery is equipped with proper warnings.

Construction equipment or machinery failure falls into two broad categories: (1) Where the machine or equipment itself was not properly designed or manufactured, or lacked proper warnings, thus making it unsafe, the injured construction worker may have a “products liability” or a “defective products” case. In those cases, the manufacturer and seller of the equipment or machinery must be sued. (2) Where the construction equipment or machinery caused injury because of the way it was MAINTAINED or USED, this is more likely a labor law case, and a contractor, or construction site owner, or both, must be sued. More than likely, some OSHA or New York State Industrial Code regulations were violated.