Personal Injury: Construction Injuries in Washington State
In Washington, under the Washington Industrial Safety Act (WISHA), the general contractor on any work site has a nondelegable duty to enforce all safety regulations for all employees on site, not just the employees of the general contractor. This duty runs from all upper tier subcontractors to all lower tier subcontractors which the sub may hire on the job site. This nondelegable duty to enforce all safety regulations on all work sites applies not just to general contractors but to owners, developers and those with supervisory authority in the work place. All employers are obligated to provide a reasonably safe work place for its employees and those with whom it contracts with to furnish labor and materials for it.
If you have suffered personal injuries in WA on the job feel free to contact us for a free consultation at a time and place of your convenience.
What is my Everett Personal Injury Claim Worth?
No one can tell you exactly what your case is worth without fully evaluating all the facts. In most cases, an evaluation cannot be performed until your medical condition has stabilized and you have reached maximum medical improvement. At that point in time, your claim may be ready to be evaluated. An investigation will be performed and your doctor or other experts will need to provide final reports. We shall need to obtain all medical records and relevant documents to determine how a pre-existing condition may or may not have been impacted by your injury.
Further research of the relevant points of law and consultations with experts to assess the strengths of your case, weaknesses and your case value may be required. If you would like our office to evaluate whether you have a case and the strengths of your case, please contact us. Email Rob at Rob@kornfeldlaw.com or call 1 (800) 282-4878 to schedule a free consultation or case evaluation over the telephone, by e-mail or in person at a convenient location for you, either at our main office, a satellite meeting location, in your home or at the hospital.
Washington State Work Injury Law Firm
Often workers are injured on the job or at a construction site through no fault of their own.
Roofer recovers $965,000. There may be many trades on a construction site. One trade or even the general contractor may accidentally cause a worker from a different trade to be seriously injured.
In Washington, under the Washington Industrial Safety Act (WISHA), the general contractor on any work site has a nondelegable duty to enforce all safety regulations for all employees on site, not just the employees of the general contractor. This duty runs from all upper tier subcontractors to all lower tier subcontractors which the sub may hire on the job site. This nondelegable duty to enforce all safety regulations on all work sites applies not just to general contractors but to owners, developers and those with supervisory authority in the work place. All employers are obligated to provide a reasonably safe work place for its employees and those with whom it contracts with to furnish labor and materials for it.
If a worker is injured in the work place, he may file a worker’s compensation claim. An injured worker not only has a right to file a worker’s compensation, e.g. a Labor and Industries claim, but may also have a viable “third party claim” to recover damages against the contractor, subcontractor or any other independent trade which was negligent. This would be a claim against any negligent company or an employee of another company on a job site which caused the worker’s injury. The injured worker may file a third party claim against the employer of the negligent worker and arguably claim that the employer or its employee failed to enforce or follow certain WISHA or OSHA regulations.
More from Seattle Work Injury Law Firm.
Fatal Construction Accident On Guemes Island
A construction worker has been killed in a construction accident on Guemes Island.
A dispatcher with the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office tells KIRO 7 that there is one confirmed death. The deceased is an employee of the construction company involved in the accident.
According to the Anacortes Fire Department, which is assisting with the accident response, the accident happened at around 3:15 p.m. Saturday when an 1800 square foot house fell off of its foundation, crushing a construction worker to death.
An Anacortes Fire spokesperson tells KIRO 7’s Graham Johnson that six workers were lowering the house to comply with building codes when the house slipped. All of the workers made it out safely except for one man, who was killed as he was pinned and crushed by pieces of the house structure.
The victim is a 57-year-old man from Mount Vernon.
Promptly Paying Medical Bills is Important
When you are injured by the negligence of another there are usually medical bills that should be payed immediately. Even if you are thinking of filing a personal injury lawsuit paying medical bills promptly will protect your credit amongst other things. Here is how your bills should be handled:
- Medical insurance. This is the best way to pay your medical bills promptly, but we know not everyone has medical coverage.
- Insurance coverage of other parties.
- State medical grant programs
If you have been injured in Washington we will handle all of the required paper work to ensure your medical bills are taken care of properly. Even if you do not have medical coverage, other insurance coverage is not available and you do not qualify for any medical grants we will contact your medical provider to ensure collections are held. Contact our Washington personal injury lawyers for a free consultation.
Washington Lawsuit Filed Over Helicopter Crash
The estate of a South Korean businessman killed in a 2007 helicopter crash near Easton, Kittitas County, has filed a wrongful-death suit against the California manufacturer of the helicopter and a Seattle company that operated the aircraft.
The suit, filed Sept. 29 in King County Superior Court, alleges that the helicopter’s fuel system and tail rotor system were unsafe, causing the death of Si Young Lee, 45, the president of a South Korean furniture company who was visiting Washington to inspect export-grade timber.
Three other people, including the pilot, also were killed and the crash sparked a 485-acre wildfire.
A spokeswoman for Robinson Helicopter, the Torrance, Calif., manufacturer of the R44 II helicopter that crashed, declined to comment, saying the company doesn’t discuss pending litigation.
Classic Helicopter, the operator of the helicopter, declined to comment on allegations that it knew or should have known about the purported defects.
The crash occurred on Aug. 2, 2007, after Lee, his business partner, Hyun Song, and Robert Hagerman, 64, an Everett timber broker, flew in the helicopter over the Cascades to a logging site. The helicopter was flown from Boeing Field in Seattle by Keiko Minakata, 41, Classic’s chief flight instructor.
Minutes after the helicopter left the logging site for a return trip, it crashed and burst into flames.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found last year that the crash resulted from pilot error. The pilot, flying downhill, attempted a “downwind takeoff” in high-density altitude conditions, the safety board concluded, noting that the craft’s operation at 77 pounds over the limit for existing conditions and a gusty tail wind were contributing factors.
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More Chrysler Product Liability Lawsuits Will Be Recognized by New Company
The newly created Chrysler Group LLC has agreed to accept exposure for personal injury claims that occur after they emerged from bankruptcy protection, where the injury was caused by an alleged defect in old Chrysler vehicles. Chrysler now says that the liability claims will not threaten the viability of the new company.
Originally, Chrysler only agreed to accept liability for new vehicles made after the bankruptcy, which would have left users of their older vehicles without a viable source of recovery if an injury is sustained in the future as a result of defects in existing vehicles.
The new company, now under partial control by Italy’s Fiat, announced last week that it will accept the older liabilities after General Motors Co. made a similar commitment. Therefore, claims for injuries sustained after they emerged from bankruptcy on June 10 will be honored. However, Chrysler personal injury lawsuits for claims that arose before the bankruptcy filing will still be limited to the assets of the old company.
In Everett, Washington product liability claims have an expiration date of 3 years under the statute of limitations in the state. If you have been injured due to defective product in Washington consider contacting our Everett defective product lawyers for a free consultation at a time and place of your convenience.
Washington Personal Injury Statute of Limitations
In Washington the following actions shall be commenced within three years:
(1) An action for waste or trespass upon real property;
(2) An action for taking, detaining, or injuring personal property, including an action for the specific recovery thereof, or for any other injury to the person or rights of another not hereinafter enumerated;
(3) Except as provided in RCW 4.16.040(2), an action upon a contract or liability, express or implied, which is not in writing, and does not arise out of any written instrument;
(4) An action for relief upon the ground of fraud, the cause of action in such case not to be deemed to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party of the facts constituting the fraud;
(5) An action against a sheriff, coroner, or constable upon a liability incurred by the doing of an act in his official capacity and by virtue of his office, or by the omission of an official duty, including the nonpayment of money collected upon an execution; but this subdivision shall not apply to action for an escape;
(6) An action against an officer charged with misappropriation or a failure to properly account for public funds intrusted to his custody; an action upon a statute for penalty or forfeiture, where an action is given to the party aggrieved, or to such party and the state, except when the statute imposing it prescribed a different limitation: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, The cause of action for such misappropriation, penalty or forfeiture, whether for acts heretofore or hereafter done, and regardless of lapse of time or existing statutes of limitations, or the bar thereof, even though complete, shall not be deemed to accrue or to have accrued until discovery by the aggrieved party of the act or acts from which such liability has arisen or shall arise, and such liability, whether for acts heretofore or hereafter done, and regardless of lapse of time or existing statute of limitation, or the bar thereof, even though complete, shall exist and be enforceable for three years after discovery by aggrieved party of the act or acts from which such liability has arisen or shall arise.
Easily summarized, you have 3 years in the state of Washington to file a Personal Injury Claim. If you think you may have a personal injury claim you can contact our firm of personal injury lawyers for a free consultation.
Filing a Seattle Personal Injury Lawsuit – Preparing Your Facts
A personal injury resulting from negligence of any sort is a painful ordeal to experience, mentally and emotionally as well as physically. These injuries range widely in severity, and depending upon how the injury affects a person’s life or the lives of their family member, the victim may be able to file a lawsuit against the person or company that is responsible for the injury. This is often done in order to compensate the victim and their loved ones for time off work, medical bills, or punitively.
Filing a personal injury lawsuit in the state of Washington requires diligence on behalf of the victim in order to ensure a certain measure of success in pursuing such a case. In many personal injury cases, the victim is not properly compensated for their pain and suffering because they do not have enough evidence to support their claims.
Among the most important of all steps involved in filing a personal injury lawsuit, many people fail to seek medical attention after an accident. In many instances, victims try to see if their pain will go away with time as it does with minor injuries. Usually after days or even weeks of chronic suffering, the victim then decides to see a physician. By this time, the medical records do not accurately reflect the injuries from the accident as the body has already begun to heal itself.
After these steps have been completed and all evidence and information is in order, the injured party should immediately contact a skilled and experienced personal injury attorney. Arranging a meeting with a lawyer after all of the necessary steps have been taken could mean speeding up the process of taking someone to court, as well as saving time and money for both attorney and client.
Seattle Personal Injury Lawyer Rob Kornfeld clients with major personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and various other cases in relation to personal injuries. Additionally, we represent clients who have claims arising in the work place involving sexual harassment, employment discrimination or wrongful termination. While our law firm is based in the Seattle area, we have successfully handled cases throughout the State of Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and assisted in British Columbia, Canada. Visit Seattle Injury Attorney Rob Kornfeld.
