A construction accident can leave you facing painful injuries, missed work, and questions that no one at the jobsite seems willing to answer. You may be receiving workers’ compensation benefits—or struggling to get them—without knowing whether another company’s conduct contributed to what happened.
If you were injured on a construction site in Levittown or elsewhere in Bucks County, Fulginiti Law can investigate both sides of the case: your right to workers’ compensation and your potential claim against an owner, contractor, equipment company, or other party outside your employer. The purpose of that investigation is not to make assumptions. It is to determine who controlled the work, equipment, property, and safety decisions that led to your injury.
How Construction Accident Claims Work in Pennsylvania
A serious jobsite injury can create two separate legal matters: a workers’ compensation claim and, when someone other than the employer may be responsible, a third-party personal injury claim.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Pennsylvania workers’ compensation generally provides benefits for an injury arising in the course of employment without requiring the worker to prove that the employer was negligent. Available benefits may include medical treatment, partial wage replacement, compensation for certain permanent losses, and benefits for eligible dependents after a fatal workplace accident. (legis.state.pa.us)
Workers’ compensation is important, but it does not ordinarily compensate an injured worker for pain, suffering, or the full personal impact of a life-changing injury. Pennsylvania law also generally makes workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy against the injured person’s employer. This means that an employee usually cannot bring a negligence lawsuit directly against the employer, even when workplace carelessness may have contributed to the accident. (legis.state.pa.us)
Claims Against Other Companies
Construction projects commonly involve several businesses working at the same location. Pennsylvania law allows an injured employee to pursue a claim against a third party whose act or omission caused or contributed to the injury. (legis.state.pa.us)
Depending on the facts, that third party may be:
- A general contractor that controlled the dangerous work
- A subcontractor that created a hazard affecting another company’s employee
- A property owner or manager responsible for a dangerous site condition
- A manufacturer, distributor, rental company, or maintenance provider connected to unsafe equipment
- A delivery, trucking, or utility company involved in the incident
- Another project participant whose conduct contributed to the accident
An owner or general contractor is not automatically liable simply because it owned the property or supervised the project. Responsibility may depend on whether the company controlled the manner of the work, created or knew about the hazard, supplied unsafe equipment, or negligently performed a safety duty it undertook. Pennsylvania courts distinguish general oversight from control over how the work was actually performed. (pacourts.us)
What to Do After a Construction Accident
Your health comes first. Once urgent medical needs are addressed, a few practical steps can help protect both your workers’ compensation rights and any possible third-party claim.
- Get appropriate medical care.
Seek emergency treatment when necessary and follow the instructions of your treating providers. Describe how the accident occurred and report all affected areas of your body. Do not minimize symptoms or attempt to diagnose yourself. - Report the injury promptly.
Tell your employer or supervisor that you were injured while working, and provide the date, location, and basic circumstances. A written report can help prevent later disputes. Pennsylvania advises workers to report job injuries immediately; delayed notice can postpone benefits, and notice given after 120 days may result in the loss of workers’ compensation, subject to limited exceptions. The state’s guidance for injured workers explains the basic process. (pa.gov) - Record what you remember.
Write down what you were doing, who gave the instructions, which companies were working nearby, what equipment was involved, and what happened immediately afterward. Memories can fade while the project continues to change. - Preserve information safely.
Keep photographs or videos you already have, along with witness names, text messages, work orders, medical paperwork, and wage records. Do not return to a dangerous site, enter restricted property, or take equipment that does not belong to you. - Be careful with insurance paperwork.
Provide truthful information, but do not guess about facts you do not know. Before signing a broad medical authorization, release, or settlement proposed by another company’s insurer, consider having it reviewed by a lawyer. - Seek legal advice before evidence disappears.
Construction conditions can change quickly. Equipment may be moved, temporary structures dismantled, and multiple companies may leave the project. An early investigation can help identify the correct parties and preserve relevant records.
Construction Accidents That May Support a Claim
The cause of the incident matters more than the label placed on it. Fulginiti Law evaluates injuries involving circumstances such as:
- Falls from roofs, ladders, elevated platforms, or scaffolding
- Workers struck by falling tools, materials, vehicles, or suspended loads
- Crane accidents and failures involving rigging or hoisting operations
- Forklift accidents and other heavy-equipment incidents
- Electrical accidents, explosions, and burns
- Trench collapses, structural failures, and caught-between or crushing incidents
- Defective, poorly maintained, or improperly selected tools and equipment
These events can cause fractures, brain and spinal cord injuries, burns, amputations, internal injuries, permanent disability, and death. Even when workers’ compensation accepts the injury, the cause should still be examined to determine whether another project participant may share responsibility.
Determining Who Was Responsible
The name printed on a hard hat or vehicle may not reveal which company controlled the dangerous activity. Construction projects can include owners, developers, general contractors, trade contractors, staffing companies, equipment suppliers, and property managers, each with a different role.
A third-party investigation may ask:
- Who directed the injured person’s work?
- Which company created or controlled the dangerous condition?
- Who owned, rented, inspected, or maintained the equipment?
- Did another contractor’s work expose nearby employees to danger?
- Who had authority over the relevant area or operation?
- Did the contracts assign a specific safety, maintenance, or inspection duty?
The answers are fact-specific. A safety rule, citation, or contract provision may be important evidence, but it does not by itself establish civil liability. The complete circumstances must be evaluated under Pennsylvania law.
Evidence That Can Matter
You are not expected to collect an entire case while recovering from an injury. Preserve what is reasonably available and tell your lawyer where other evidence may exist.
The most useful early information often includes:
- Photographs or videos of the condition, equipment, or work area
- Names, phone numbers, employers, and job roles of witnesses
- Incident reports and communications with supervisors or insurers
- Medical records, work restrictions, pay information, and benefit notices
- Identifying details for involved machinery, tools, vehicles, or protective equipment
A law firm may then seek contracts, insurance information, site records, surveillance recordings, inspection and maintenance documents, and testimony from the companies involved. When appropriate, qualified experts can evaluate engineering, equipment, medical, or construction-safety issues.
Compensation After a Construction Injury
The available compensation depends on whether the case involves workers’ compensation, a third-party claim, or both.
Workers’ compensation may provide payment for reasonable and necessary medical care, a portion of lost wages, certain permanent losses, and eligible death benefits. A third-party claim may allow recovery for additional losses, including:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost income and reduced earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Disability, disfigurement, and loss of normal activities
- Long-term rehabilitation, assistance, or future care
- Losses available to qualifying family members
- Wrongful-death and survival damages after a fatal accident
Not every category applies in every case. Pennsylvania workers’ compensation insurers may also have a statutory right to reimbursement from a third-party recovery, so the two claims must be coordinated carefully. (legis.state.pa.us)
How Fulginiti Law Can Investigate a Construction Accident
A construction case requires more than submitting medical bills. Fulginiti Law can examine the project structure and determine whether a company outside the employer may have contributed to the accident.
That work may include:
- Identifying the owner, general contractor, subcontractors, and equipment companies
- Preserving site, surveillance, electronic, and equipment evidence
- Reviewing contracts to determine who controlled the relevant work or condition
- Obtaining incident, inspection, maintenance, and insurance records
- Consulting appropriate technical and medical experts
- Coordinating workers’ compensation benefits with a third-party claim
- Handling insurer communications, negotiations, litigation, and trial preparation
Fulginiti Law reports recovering more than $76 million in construction-accident cases, including a $22 million result and multiple multimillion-dollar recoveries. Every case depends on its own evidence, injuries, available insurance, and applicable law; past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. (fulginiti-law.com)
Important Pennsylvania Deadlines
Pennsylvania generally requires personal injury and wrongful-death lawsuits to be commenced within two years, although the date the period begins and any exception can depend on the case. Workers should report job injuries immediately; Pennsylvania law generally requires notice within 120 days and generally requires a workers’ compensation claim petition within three years if benefits have not been established. If a government unit may be involved, a separate written-notice requirement can apply within six months, subject to statutory qualifications. Prompt review is important because the shortest applicable deadline may control. (legis.state.pa.us)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue my employer after a construction accident?
Usually not for ordinary negligence. Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system generally replaces a direct personal injury lawsuit against the employer. A separate claim may still exist against an owner, general contractor, subcontractor, equipment company, or another third party whose conduct contributed to the accident. Narrow exceptions may apply, so the employment relationships should be reviewed rather than assumed. (legis.state.pa.us)
Can I receive workers’ compensation and pursue a third-party claim?
Potentially, yes. Workers’ compensation can provide medical and wage-loss benefits while a third-party case is investigated. However, the workers’ compensation insurer may have a lien against part of a third-party recovery. A lawyer can account for that lien when evaluating settlement and coordinating the claims. (legis.state.pa.us)
What if someone says I caused the accident?
Do not assume that statement ends your case. In a Pennsylvania negligence action, an injured person may still recover when their share of negligence is not greater than the causal negligence attributed to the defendant or defendants, although compensation is reduced by the injured person’s percentage of fault. The evidence—not a supervisor’s or insurer’s initial opinion—determines how responsibility should be allocated. (legis.state.pa.us)
What if I was called an independent contractor or subcontractor?
A label does not necessarily resolve your legal rights. Coverage and responsibility may depend on who controlled your work, how you were paid, the relationships between the contractors, and other facts. An investigation may show that workers’ compensation coverage applies, that a third-party claim exists, or both.
Other areas where we handle Construction Accident:
- Middletown Construction Accident
- Pottstown Construction Accident
- Bensalem Construction Accidents
- Chester Construction Accidents
- Abington Construction Accidents
- Lower Merion Construction Accident
- Doylestown Construction Accidents
- West Chester Construction Accident
- Cherry Hill Construction Accidents
- Willingboro Construction Accident
- East Norriton Construction Accidents
- King of Prussia Construction Accidents
- Camden Construction Accidents
- Coatesville Construction Accidents
- Voorhees Construction Accident
- Upper Darby Construction Accident
- Deptford Construction Accidents
- Pennsauken Construction Accident
- Norristown Construction Accident
- Gloucester Construction Accidents
- Mount Laurel Construction Accident
- Lansdale Construction Accidents
- Glassboro Construction Accidents
- Media Construction Accident
- Haverford Construction Accidents
Speak With a Levittown Construction Accident Lawyer
If you were injured while working on a construction project in Levittown PA, Fulginiti Law can review what happened, explain how workers’ compensation and third-party claims may apply, and investigate which companies controlled the work, equipment, property, or dangerous condition.
Call 215-602-4204 or contact Fulginiti Law to request a free consultation.
