Crush injuries are some of the most common and severe injuries that can occur on construction sites. In fact, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers caught-in/between accidents, which are a major cause of crush injuries, to be one of the top four construction hazards.

If you suffered a crush injury in North Mississippi, it’s essential to understand your options for seeking compensation. Depending on how your injury occurred, you can either file a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party personal injury lawsuit.

For help with your case, contact the injury attorneys of Chatham Gilder Howell Pittman. During your free initial consultation, one of our attorneys will review your case, explain your options, and answer any questions you have about the process of seeking the compensation you deserve.

Common Causes of Construction Crush Injuries

Knowing how your construction site crush injury occurred is the first step toward recovering compensation. Some of the most common causes include:

  • Heavy Machinery Accidents: Forklifts, cranes, and other heavy machinery can easily crush limbs if operators fail to follow standard safety procedures.
  • Falling Objects: Steel beams, concrete blocks, and other heavy objects can easily pin and crush workers if they fall.
  • Trench Collapses: Excavation projects are particularly dangerous, and workers should always use trench support systems to prevent crush injuries.
  • Caught In/Between Accidents: With all the vehicles and machinery on construction sites, it’s easy for workers to become pinned between moving and stationary objects.
  • Structural Failures: Collapsing scaffolding and other structural failures can lead to crushing injuries.
  • Larger piece of Equipment impacting a Smaller Piece of Equipment and Compromising the Passenger Compartment: The larger machine impacting the smaller one can compromise the passenger compartment of a smaller piece of equipment by a normal wreck impact or by dropping something on the smaller vehicle.
  • Improper Safety Equipment: Worksite managers must make sure all workers are wearing the proper safety equipment to prevent injuries, including hi-vis vests, to decrease the likelihood of being struck by a vehicle.

Workers’ Compensation vs. Personal Injury

Before seeking compensation for your construction site crush injury, you must determine whether you have a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party personal injury case or potentially both. The claims process and types of compensation you can seek differ between the two. Generally having both is the best case scenario for a full recovery.

Workers’ Compensation Claims

In Mississippi, employers with five or more full-time employees generally must have workers’ compensation insurance. This is a type of no-fault insurance that provides injured workers with coverage for reasonable and necessary medical care and partial wage loss payments after an on-the-job injury, regardless of fault.

The drawbacks to workers’ compensation claims are that you cannot recover compensation for personal losses like pain and suffering, and typically two thirds of your wages (up to the state average weekly wage for the year in Mississippi) for a limited time you cannot directly sue your employer for negligence if you accept workers’ comp benefits.

Personal Injury Lawsuits

If a third party, such as a subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, owner of the site, or other individual not controlled by your employer, contributed to your crush injury, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against them. These lawsuits allow you to seek compensation for more than just medical expenses and the totality of your wages, including pain and suffering.

Unlike workers’ compensation claims, personal injury lawsuits require you to prove the other party’s negligence contributed to your injury. This requires gathering plenty of evidence to support your claims, which an experienced lawyer can help you with.

Liability in Construction Crush Injury Cases

Some of the main parties that could be liable for your construction site crush injury are:

  • Employers: If your employer or a coworker contributed to your injury, you generally must go through workers’ compensation instead of suing them directly.
  • Contractors and Subcontractors: Non-employees on the worksite could be liable for your injuries if they contributed to them.
  • Equipment Manufacturers: If defective equipment contributed to your injury, you may be able to hold the manufacturer liable.
  • Property Owners: If a hazardous condition on a property caused your injury, the owner could be liable.
  • Drivers: If your crush injury was the result of a motor vehicle accident caused by someone unaffiliated with the work site, you could pursue compensation from them.

Compensation Available to Crush Injury Victims

Some of the compensation you could recover for your crush injury, depending on whether you have a workers’ compensation or personal injury case, includes:

  • Compensation for your past and future medical expenses
  • Compensation for the wages you lost while recovering from your injury (limited in Workers Compensation)
  • Compensation for the wages you will lose because of your injury’s impact on your ability to work (limited in Workers Compensation)
  • Compensation for accommodations that must be made for any permanent disability suffered
  • Compensation for being trained for a new position if you can no longer work in your old one
  • Compensation for pain and suffering, which is only available through personal injury lawsuits

What to Do After Suffering a Crush Injury

After suffering a crush injury, it’s important to take the following steps to protect your right to seek compensation:

  • Report the injury to your employer so they can report it to their workers’ compensation insurance provider.
  • Follow up with your medical treatment to reach your maximum level of healing as soon as possible.
  • Document the incident and your injuries with photographs and journal entries.
  • Consult an experienced injury lawyer about your options for seeking compensation.

Deadlines for Seeking Compensation for Crush Injuries in Mississippi

The time limit for seeking compensation after a crush injury in Mississippi depends on whether you’re filing for workers’ compensation benefits or a personal injury lawsuit:

  • Workers’ Compensation: Injured workers have two years to file their claims for workers’ compensation benefits. However, you also must have reported your injury to your employer within 30 days of the accident.
  • Personal Injury: Under the statute of limitations set in MS Code section 15-1-49, victims have three years to file lawsuits against those responsible for their injuries.

Regardless of which avenue you use to pursue compensation, you must file your claim or lawsuit within the deadline or risk being barred from recovery.

Contact Our North Mississippi Crush Injury Attorneys

If you suffered a crush injury on a North Mississippi construction site, contact Chatham Gilder Howell Pittman for a free consultation with a skilled attorney. Our Hernando and Southaven-based team can assist you with either your workers’ compensation claim or third-party personal injury lawsuit. Since 1932, our firm has been helping clients recover the money they need and deserve, and we’re ready to put our experience to work for you.