Wyoming Construction Accident Lawyer

Casper Attorney Helps Injured Workers and Families

Video Transcript:

Grant Lawson: 

Why did this happen? Was that a systematic failure? Did somebody do something wrong? Was there a product involved that failed? There's a number of things that can be looked at.

Tom Mustin: 

What should workers and their families know about construction site accidents? We're gonna talk to attorney Grant Lawson about that on today's Ask the lawyer. Grant, thanks for joining us.

Grant Lawson: 

Hey, thanks for having me.

Tom Mustin: 

Always great to talk to you. So during your legal career, what kinds of accidents have you seen occur on construction sites?

Grant Lawson: 

Well, a lot, it can range from contractors on the job who fail to cover a hole or fix a skylight to be appropriately weighted so that people can walk to crane failures or crane operation dangers. There's been a lot that I've seen over the years, and I think consistently what happens is that you have a disconnect between certain contractors on site, and even though you have a general contractor, you have all these other parties that come on site and they're not always talking to each other, they don't always know what's going on or what the last guy or gal might have done with a certain piece of the project, and so sometimes that leads to unfortunate circumstances.

Tom Mustin: 

Sure, so who's responsible for safety on a construction site and who's responsible for making sure those regulations are followed?

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah, so it's interesting, state-by state, states have taken of approach that a general contractor can let go of their responsibility so to speak, that even though the general contractor is kind of the top dog in charge of the entire operation, they can sub-contract out and delegate out the duties and responsibilities for safety, and it depends on the contractual language, depends on what's actually being delegated out, and so there, a lot of times, it can be that it's simply one contractor versus another contractor, or that the general contractor was there onsite, had more involvement. Had a safety representative. So there's usually a lot of questions that have to be answered in order to figure out who's actually responsible for what portion of that job site.

Tom Mustin: 

So if someone is seriously injured or even killed on a construction site, what should that person or their family do right away?

Grant Lawson: 

Well, they need to talk to an attorney. A lot of times there's gonna be Workers ' Compensation that's involved, but Workers ' Compensation won't necessarily have the answers to whether or not there's a third party or party that can be held responsible, and whether there can actually be some sort of legal remedy that a family of somebody who passes away on a job site, or somebody who gets hurt on the job site, whether they have that remedy, and so it's smart to talk to somebody with the experience to answer or get the questions out on the table and get the answers to see if they can help somebody who's been hurt or a family of somebody who's been killed.

Tom Mustin: 

So if someone is injured and wants to file a Workers ' Comp claim, can they do that themselves or do they have to go through the attorney to actually file the claim?

Grant Lawson: 

No, they can do that themselves. A lot of times, there may not be workers ' comp coverage, and that opens up a whole another basket of issues and questions, but typically the employer is responsible for making sure that a hurt employee is getting their workers ' comp claim filed and not standing in the way of that and assisting and making sure that they're meeting the deadlines, and so sometimes though it is advantageous for somebody who gets hurt on the job to have a Workers ' Comp attorney help them with the process, to make sure that they're getting everything they deserve and the push back from the insurance company, who's paying the workers ' comp claim isn't just rolling them over that they have somebody stand up for them.

Tom Mustin: 

And you touched on this a bit Grant but is there any other kind of relief available to these injured workers other than workers ' comp?

Grant Lawson: 

There can be, and it depends on the situation, it totally depends on what happened at the job site, how the accident or tragedy occurred, who was involved, who was responsible, and whether or not there can be other parties involved that are held responsible and liable through some legal action other than just workers ' comp, and so there's a lot of variables there that it makes it too difficult to just say Yes or No, there just has to be an examination, and really that's why it takes somebody who's experienced in doing a construction site Accident Law to help somebody who's been hurt out.

Tom Mustin: 

And you just kind of answered my question here again, but so what exactly can an injury attorney do to help someone who's been injured, and you kind of touched on that a bit. But what else can you do?

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah, so they can break down the entire structure of how the construction project was being done, who was involved, who was responsible for what portions, who had the authority, who had safety responsibilities, and really take a look at, okay, well, why did this happen? Was that a systematic failure, did somebody do something wrong? Was there a product involved that failed. There's a number of things that can be looked at, and a lawyer who knows the area of law with construction sites can take a look and help someone know, Hey, I think you have a valid claim, legal action that you can bring for all of the damages you've suffered pain, suffering injuries, loss of wages, impairment, all of those things that may come into play And so that's kind of the big picture of what a construction site accident lawyer can do for somebody.

Tom Mustin: 

Well, great answers, and Grant, always great to talk to it, and thanks for sharing your expertise with us once again.

Grant Lawson: 

Yeah thanks for having me, it's always a pleasure. Stay safe everyone.

Tom Mustin: 

And that's gonna do it for this episode would have Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been Grant Lawson. If you wanna ask Grant question about your situation call the number you see on the screen. Thanks for watching I'm Tom Mustin for Ask the Lawyers.

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