When Kansas residents drive along roadways and see beautiful buildings, hotels and office spaces, they don’t often think of the construction worker who spent long, hard, laboring hours creating the structure. Construction workers are often underappreciated and unfortunately in one of the more dangerous professions for workplace accidents.
Recently, a construction worker was seriously injured while working on the job. The 40 year-old man suffered nearly a complete amputation of his leg after a piece of heavy equipment fell. He was flown by medical helicopter to a local hospital. He was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries, but is expected to survive. A firefighter who responded on the scene was also injured and treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
Construction accidents are much more common than in other professions. While the risk of construction worker accidents is increased due to the nature of the work, all employees who are injured in the workplace will be entitled to compensation from their employer. Workers compensation benefits entitle the injured worker to lost wages while recovering from the injury, medical expenses, as well as compensation benefits if the worker is permanently incapacitated and cannot continue in his normal job duties.
There are some instances, however, when an injured worker will be unable to collect workers’ compensation benefits. Examples can include injuries that the employee suffered while driving to or from work, or certain instances where the employee was not following workplace safety policies. It is important to note that even if the employee was not physically in his regular work environment when the injury occured, he is still eligible for worker’s compensation benefits if he was injured by performing a task connected to his or her job.
Any Kansas resident who has been injured in the workplace needs to make sure they understand all their available legal options. Experienced employment law legal professionals can analyze the details in a specific case and help determine what the best solution would be.
Source: Wusa 9 News, “Worker seriously injured in construction accident“, August 22, 2013
