Cranes are a central part of the working environment not just on construction sites, but also in industrial plants, storage facilities, and various other workplaces around California. No matter where it is located or how tall it is, working on or around an industrial crane can be dangerous, even if everyone on site acts responsibly.
If you have been injured while on the job due to an accident involving any kind of crane, you may likely have grounds to retain a tenacious attorney and file a workers’ compensation claim. With help from a Glendale crane injury lawyer, you may be able to obtain comprehensive benefits for your medical bills, short-term and long-term disability, job retraining services, and potentially more.
Workers’ compensation insurance coverage makes employers immune from direct civil liability for workplace accidents in exchange for them agreeing to assume liability for certain losses and expenses caused by such accidents. Accordingly, only work-related injuries are covered by workers’ comp, which means that someone injured in a crane accident must prove they were hurt while performing normal job duties in order to have grounds for a claim.
As a Glendale crane injury attorney could further explain, anyone directly operating a crane on a worksite is performing work-related tasks and qualifies for workers’ comp as a result, and the same can be said for anyone else who is on the clock and doing something job-related around a crane when an accident happens. That said, workers’ comp does not cover injuries stemming directly from horseplay or some other form of negligence by the injured person, nor does it cover non-employees of the company providing workers’ comp coverage, such as independent contractors, site visitors, or passers-by.
Even if an injured worker can prove that they meet all the criteria necessary to seek workers’ comp benefits after a crane accident, their employer—or more often, that employer’s insurance provider—may disagree about the severity of their injury and what benefits are warranted as a result. Sometimes, these kinds of disputes can be resolved by providing additional documentation from healthcare providers or through private mediation, but in other situations, it may be necessary to get a court involved.
This process has multiple stages and may involve getting second opinions from multiple sources, including a workers’ compensation judge, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, or even a state district court. Guidance from a skilled lawyer is especially vital to getting good results from these sorts of proceedings stemming from a crane injury in Glendale.
Regardless of how they happen, injuries involving industrial cranes tend to be especially debilitating and potentially life-altering compared to those caused by most other work-related accidents. If you have been hurt under circumstances like this, representation from the experienced attorneys at Glauber Berenson Vego could be essential to getting you all the benefits you deserve and protecting your long-term prospects along the way.
A Glendale crane injury lawyer could go over your possible claim and offer preliminary guidance about the next steps during a confidential consultation. Call today to schedule yours.
