Construction Accidents & Job Site Injuries
In 1910, hard-working Oregon citizens collected signatures to enact the Employer’s Liability Act provision:
All employers having “responsibility for any work involving a risk or danger to the employees or the public shall use every device, care and precaution that is practicable to use for the protection and safety of life and limb, machine or other apparatus or device, and without regard to the additional cost of suitable material or safety appliance and devices.”
This law is powerful. It put people over profits. We recently represented a siding company foreman who suffered paraplegia from falling when a ladder and scaffolding collapsed. He obtained recovery against the general contractor, who allowed equipment to be used unsafely on the job site.
Other cases we’ve handled under this act include a paper plant workman who received serious chemical burns, a worker who fell from a platform, and workers injured by defective vehicles and machinery.
Job Site Injuries — Case Example
George Orazio was assigned by his employer to clean a tank at Smurfit Corporation. No one told him that the material he was wading in in the tank was severely corrosive. He suffered severe burns to his foot, and his physician wrote that the skin on the top of his foot would forever be as thin and fragile as cigarette paper. He would be unable to do heavy work again or to wear heavy boots. After protracted negotiations, the case settled for an undisclosed amount.