As most people know, construction sites and factories are dangerous places to work – particularly when the proper safety precautions are not taken. One of the worst dangers present at many construction projects and factories are large cranes. These cranes pose a variety of injury risks. Examples of the ways a crane can cause serious, even life ending injury include collapse of the crane, and the crane operator inadvertently dropping a load or striking a person with the load. Negligence cases involving injuries caused by cranes are often among the most complex personal injury claims, both because the responsibilities of the various parties can be hard to ascertain and because the very identity of the responsible parties is sometimes not known. If you or a loved one has been seriously hurt in a crane accident, contact a North Carolina personal injury attorney.
Your rights following a crane accident in many cases depends upon your relationship with the company operating the crane. That is, the rights of someone completely unrelated to the business operating the crane and its own employees are vastly different. For example, if an employee of the crane operator is injured, he or she may be limited to a North Carolina workers’ compensation claim – unless, for example, the injury was somehow also caused by someone other than his or her employer. An independent third party injured by the crane operator, including other contractors on site, may be able to sue for negligence. Negligence suits typically allow for higher monetary recoveries than workers’ compensation claims and so it is important to pursue them, if feasible.
There are a wide variety of cranes, including overhead track mounted cranes (such as gantry cranes), monorail cranes, wheel mounted cranes, crawler mounted cranes, straddle cranes, and hammerhead tower cranes. There are general principles and rules as to each of these cranes. If an operator fails to follow such a rule and causes injury or death, he or she and his or her employer can be held liable. Some of the rules for operating such cranes are set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA violations often times are enough to prove negligence.
The Raleigh law firm of Maginnis Law represents North Carolinians in a variety of personal injury matters. We understand the unique laws associated with claims against crane operators and can help you retain the appropriate experts for your case to prove negligence, including accident reconstruction engineers, OSHA experts, and crane experts. Retaining these experts can mean the difference between a small, nuisance settlement and a significant verdict or settlement that adequately compensates you for your losses.
Maginnis Law offers contingency fee arrangements to all prospective clients injured by the negligence of a crane operator. Our firm also provides free consultations and will travel to meet with you if you are restricted by your injury.
To discuss your injuries and your claim for crane operator negligence, contact our office. Call us at (919) 526-0450 or send a message through our contact page to speak with a member of our intake team. The firm regularly accepts personal injury claims from across the state of North Carolina, including those in Raleigh, Durham, Henderson/Vance County, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Cary, Greenville, and Wilmington. Please submit your general inquiries to our contact page and an intake specialist will get back to you as soon as possible.
