Two Penfield, New York, town employees were injured recently while installing storm drains, according to the Penfield Post. The workers were standing in a trench while a concrete basin suspended by chains was being lowered into place. One of the chains snapped, causing the basin to swing into the workers, who were then thrown against a steel wall lining the trench. Both workers suffered concussions.

“You’ve got to be able to trust your equipment,” said a firefighter who responded to the accident. “It just was an unfortunate accident that happened.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, contact with objects and equipment caused 708 workplace fatalities in 2011, representing 15 percent of all fatal workplace accidents. Many of those deaths could have been prevented.  An investigation will determine whether the Penfield accident was preventable and, if so, who was responsible.

A construction worker who is injured due to the negligence of a contractor or other third party could have grounds for a lawsuit.  The New York workers’ compensation system provides compensation for people injured on the job, but those benefits are often inadequate to cover the actual financial loss to the injured workers and their families. If a the negligence of a third party caused, or contributed, to an accident, however, the worker can employ a New York personal injury attorney to seek  compensation through a third-party lawsuit.

Because construction sites in New York or New Jersey often have numerous companies operating within the same space at the same time, a third party is frequently partially to blame for construction workplace injuries. Responsible third parties could include general contractors, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, or property owners or managers.