Rochester Scaffold Law Lawyers

Western New York Construction Accident Attorneys

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Construction site accidents can be especially devastating. New York State law recognizes the special dangers of gravity-related work accidents. If you fell from a scaffold or ladder, if you were in an accident involving defective lifts, elevators, cranes, or hoists, the owner and general contractor of the job site are responsible for your injuries; your own fault cannot be considered.

Know Your Rights — The New York Scaffold Law

by Steve Segar

The New York Scaffold Law, otherwise known as Labor Law Section 240, was originally enacted to protect workers who were employed at heights above ground level. It also served to protect workers crushed by materials being hoisted above them.

The most common cases involving the Scaffold Law, and hence the reason for its name, are those where workers fall from scaffolding or from ladders. This applies to those unfortunate situations when a scaffold or ladder either collapses, slips, tips, breaks, or otherwise fails to offer proper protection to the worker.

The Scaffold Law holds an owner and general contractor of a work site absolutely responsible for the workers' injuries. However, the law does not apply to owners of one- or two-family homes when the owner lives there. The uniqueness of the Scaffold Law stems from the fact that a worker's own fault cannot and will not be used to reduce the legal responsibility of an owner or general contractor. Even if the injured worker places the ladder improperly, fails to tie it off or sets up scaffolding incorrectly, the worker is entitled to collect the full measure of his or her damages, including recovery for past and future pain and suffering, past and future medical expenses, and past and future lost wages.

The Scaffold Law grants to those injured while performing extremely dangerous work the absolute right to collect money benefits for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering. Those who work at heights are given these special protections because the risk of sustaining serious or catastrophic injury is so great. The Scaffold Law places the financial loss associated with the worker's injury not on the worker, that is the one least able to afford it, but rather on owners and general contractors. Instead, the burden for insuring the well-being of our workers should injury occur from a fall at an elevated work site is placed on those best able to afford it.

Movement is now afoot by many business groups, building contractors, and insurance companies to have the Scaffold Law either changed or eliminated in its entirety. Segar & Sciortino believes any change in the law would be grossly unfair to those brave men and women who, by simply going to work, place their lives in jeopardy every day.

Tell us about your scaffold law accident.

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At the Segar & Sciortino law firm, representing people who are sick or injured is a high honor and a privilege we take seriously.

At the Segar & Sciortino construction injury law firm, we handle all aspects of scaffold law accidents. You can get all the help you need under one roof. For example, if you were injured in a fall from a scaffold or ladder, our Western New York construction accident attorneys can determine all the relevant claims you might have, including:

• Workers’ Compensation: If you were injured on the job, you are entitled to medical care and lost wages and in some cases more.
• Social Security Disability: If your injury disables you and prevents you from working, you may have a Social Security Disability claim.
• Scaffold Law: If you were injured in a fall from a scaffold, ladder, or roof or if you were injured by building materials dropped from a hoist or lift, you have the right to file a lawsuit for more than just workers’ compensation.
• Product Liability: If the equipment (machine, tool) that caused your injury was poorly designed, constructed or manufactured, you may have a product liability claim against those responsible for the faulty product.

Falls on construction sites can devastate a worker and the worker’s family. The physical injuries are often catastrophic. The financial damages often include extremely high medical bills, future medical treatment, lost wages, and an inability to ever work again.

You work hard. We work hard for you.

At the Segar & Sciortino construction accident firm, our lawyers represent workers injured in gravity-related construction accidents. Our attorneys understand that you need to focus on recovering. Our scaffold law attorneys will investigate your case and help you receive the compensation you need to get your life back on track. Although prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome, we are proud of what we have accomplished for our clients.

The Segar & Sciortino workers’ compensation, Social Security Disability, and personal injury law firm provides construction accident, scaffold law, construction site injury, ladder falls, and scaffolding lawsuit legal services to clients in Western New York State around the Greater Rochester area and all of the outlying communities including Batavia, Hornell, Canandaigua, Geneseo, Mount Morris, Dansville, Macedon, Palmyra, Newark, Lyons, Geneva, Brockport, Albion, Medina and Warsaw.

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Located just off I-590 at the Winton Road exit. Free parking.

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Segar & Sciortino
New York Construction Accident Attorney
Rochester Scaffold Law Lawyers