Construction accident attorney — for injuries that workers’ comp doesn’t fully cover.

Workers’ comp is one piece of the picture — not the whole thing

If you’re hurt on the job in North Carolina, workers’ comp is generally the exclusive remedy against your employer (N.C.G.S. § 97-9). Comp pays medical and a portion of lost wages (typically two-thirds of average weekly wage up to a state-set maximum), but it does not pay for pain and suffering, does not fully replace income, and stops well short of what a serious injury actually costs a worker and their family. That’s by design — comp is supposed to be a trade: no-fault payment in exchange for limited damages.

What comp does not bar is a separate civil claim against non-employer parties whose negligence contributed to the injury. On almost every construction site, those parties exist. A general contractor that didn’t enforce fall protection. A property owner who left a hazard unaddressed. An equipment manufacturer whose tool failed. A subcontractor whose careless work created the danger. Each is potentially a defendant in a civil claim parallel to the comp case.

The right way to handle a serious construction injury is to do both at once: protect the comp benefits the worker is entitled to, and identify the third-party defendants whose insurance can pay the rest. The two cases interact — the comp carrier will assert a statutory lien on the third-party recovery for benefits already paid — and they need to be coordinated from the start. Settling either case without considering the other is one of the most expensive mistakes in this practice area.

What causes most serious construction injuries

OSHA tracks the construction industry’s “Fatal Four”: falls, struck-by incidents, electrocutions, and caught-in/between. These four categories account for the majority of construction fatalities every year.

Falls from heights. Consistently the leading cause of construction deaths nationally. Ladders, scaffolding without proper rails, unguarded openings, missing or improperly worn fall-arrest harnesses, roofs without perimeter protection. These are the recurring fact patterns and the recurring OSHA citations — 29 CFR 1926 Subpart M (fall protection) is one of the most-cited OSHA standards in construction.

Struck-by injuries. Falling tools or materials, swinging loads from cranes, vehicles in active work zones. The interaction between heavy equipment and foot-traffic workers is where most struck-by cases originate.

Electrocution. Contact with overhead power lines (especially with extension ladders, scaffolding, and crane booms), live circuits during renovation, improperly grounded tools, lock-out/tag-out failures.

Caught-in/between. Trench collapses (a leading cause of construction death), machinery entanglement, getting pinned between vehicles or fixed objects.

Beyond the Fatal Four, the recurring cases include heavy-equipment incidents, chemical and silica-dust exposure, repetitive-stress injuries, and the catastrophic injuries that flow from heavy machinery used carelessly around foot traffic.

OSHA citations and how they help your case

OSHA citations are public records and often pivotal evidence in a third-party civil case. A citation issued shortly after the incident describing the specific violation that caused the injury is not by itself proof of negligence in the civil case, but it is powerful evidence and shifts the conversation considerably.

How to get the file. OSHA inspection records are obtainable through Freedom of Information Act requests and OSHA’s public-disclosure portals. The full inspection file typically includes interview summaries with witnesses, photographs, citation language, the contractor’s abatement plan, and any abatement-verification visits. Pulling this file early — often within the first 30 days — is part of basic case work-up.

What the citation language reveals. OSHA citations identify the specific standard violated (e.g., 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1) for missing fall-protection systems), the alleged hazard, the dates of the violation, and the penalty assessed. The specific language can support negligence-per-se arguments — that violating a safety standard designed to prevent the very injury that occurred is itself evidence of negligence.

What a settled citation means. Sometimes contractors settle OSHA citations administratively — agreeing to abatement and a reduced penalty. The settlement doesn’t eliminate the citation as civil evidence; it’s still admissible. A contractor that accepted the citation has accepted, at least implicitly, that the underlying conduct happened.

Multiple-employer worksite analysis. OSHA’s multi-employer doctrine identifies controlling, creating, exposing, and correcting employers on a worksite. When the citation goes against the general contractor as a “controlling employer” for a hazard created by a subcontractor, the legal mapping for the civil case becomes clearer.

Third-party defendants — who can be sued

Beyond the worker’s direct employer, construction sites typically have multiple parties whose negligence may have contributed to the injury. Identifying every responsible party is core case work.

General contractors. The GC typically controls jobsite safety, sets the schedule, and is responsible for coordinating multiple subcontractors. When the GC fails to enforce safety standards or knew about a hazard and didn’t correct it, civil liability often follows.

Property owners. Owners can be liable for known hazards on the property, particularly when they retained control over the work or knew about a dangerous condition. Owner liability is more limited than GC liability, but it’s the right question to ask.

Subcontractors (other than the worker’s employer). A roofer’s negligence that causes a tile to fall on a plumber working below creates a third-party claim by the plumber against the roofing sub. Cross-trade negligence is common.

Equipment manufacturers. Defective tools, scaffolding, ladders, lift equipment, and heavy machinery support products-liability claims against the manufacturer. Design defects, manufacturing defects, and failure-to-warn theories all apply.

Engineers, architects, and design professionals. When a structural failure or design flaw causes injury, the design professional’s professional-liability insurer is a coverage source.

Premises lessees and managers. On a leased commercial property, the lessee or property manager sometimes shares liability for known hazards.

Subrogation liens — managing the comp carrier’s claim on your recovery

When the third-party case recovers money, the workers’ comp carrier asserts a statutory lien for benefits already paid. This is one of the most important and frequently mishandled pieces of construction cases.

The basic mechanic. The comp carrier paid your medical and (a portion of) your lost wages. When you recover from a third party, the carrier asserts a lien for what it paid — with reductions for attorney’s fees and case expenses (in NC, typically a 1/3 reduction).

Negotiating the lien down. The amount of the lien is often negotiable. Carriers will frequently accept less than the full amount, particularly when the third-party recovery is well below full case value or when comp benefits remain ongoing. The reduction can be material — sometimes 30–50% of the asserted lien.

Closing future comp benefits. If the third-party recovery is large, the comp carrier may take a credit against future comp benefits, meaning you stop receiving comp until the credit is used up. Whether this is the right outcome depends on the case — sometimes negotiating a buyout of the future credit is preferable.

The clincher decision. A “clincher” (full and final settlement of the comp case) closes comp permanently. Whether to clincher, and when, depends on (a) how much in future comp benefits is realistically owed, (b) what the third-party recovery looks like, and (c) the worker’s long-term medical and wage picture. Signing a clincher early — before the third-party case is evaluated — is one of the most expensive mistakes in this practice.

Specific job types — the recurring fact patterns

Different construction work creates different hazards. The specifics matter for both case work-up and damages.

Roofing. Falls from height are the dominant injury. Fall-protection violations (no harness, harness improperly worn, no proper anchor point, no safety net) are the central question. Roofers also suffer heat-related illness and burn injuries from hot materials.

Scaffolding. Improperly assembled or inadequately inspected scaffolding causes falls and collapses. Subcontractors who erected scaffolding may be liable for defects to workers on other crews.

Trenching and excavation. Trench collapses are catastrophic and largely preventable through proper sloping, shoring, or shielding (OSHA requires one of these for trenches 5+ feet deep). Cases involving trench collapse routinely succeed against the responsible contractor.

Electrical work. Lock-out/tag-out failures, contact with energized circuits, arc-flash injuries. Power-tool defects and improper grounding are recurring product-liability angles.

Heavy equipment. Crane swings into a worker; backhoe operator doesn’t see foot-traffic worker; forklift overturns. Equipment operator training records, maintenance records, and the equipment’s service history all become evidence.

Highway construction. Workers struck by passing vehicles. Traffic-control plan violations, inadequate signage, and the responsible governmental entity’s contracting choices all become issues.

What injured workers should do in the first weeks

1. Report the injury immediately in writing to your employer. NC requires written notice within 30 days; missing it can affect comp.
2. Get medical care from authorized providers for the comp side, but document everything.
3. Don’t sign a clincher without independent legal review — especially in the first weeks. Comp carriers push early closures; the third-party case has to be evaluated first.
4. Document the scene. If safe, photograph the conditions, equipment, ladders, scaffolding, fall-arrest gear, and any apparent hazards before anything is cleaned up or modified.
5. Identify witnesses. Coworkers, subcontractors on other crews, jobsite visitors. Names and phone numbers.
6. Don’t talk to non-employer carriers (the GC’s liability carrier, the property owner’s carrier, equipment manufacturer reps) before consulting counsel.
7. Request the OSHA inspection file. Or have counsel request it. This often takes weeks; start early.
8. Don’t return to work before you’re medically cleared. Pressure from foremen is a recurring issue; medical clearance is what matters, not workplace politics.