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Attorney Representation in Phoenix, Arizona Since 1996

Phoenix, Arizona Construction Accident Attorney

Construction sites often require that a trench be dug to hide electrical wires, conduit, pipes, or to gain access to an area below the ground for other reasons. Usually, this is a routine operation performed with a backhoe, excavator, or by other methods and goes by without incident. Unfortunately, though, trench accidents can and do happen – and they can cause catastrophic injury to their victims. Read on for more information on trench accidents:

What causes trench accidents? The most common causes are trench collapses, defective digging, and equipment problems. When a trench collapses, it can bring devastating injury or even death to workers who can be buried under feet of dirt and debris. Injuries such as broken bones, facial disfigurement, brain injury, nerve damage, paralysis, and even death are common in trench accidents.

Though some trench accidents are unavoidable, most trench collapse injuries are completely preventable. Often, untrained workers do not assess the ground strength before digging a trench and opt to dig where the soil is soft and wet. Many companies fail to have an OSHA competent person assess the site or obtain the right equipment, fail to call in specialists, or make other dangerous decisions instead of taking the necessary precautions to avoid trench collapse and ensure safety for construction workers. Unfortunately, the uneducated or even ignorant decisions regarding trenches can lead to disaster for the workers and their colleagues, who can face being literally buried alive while on the job. Those who do survive trench accidents can have lifelong medical problems and require multiple medical interventions, surgeries, and more as they struggle both physically and emotionally to recover from the trench accident and move on with their lives. It is the contractor’s responsibility to provide a safe workplace for all workers – and by filing a personal injury lawsuit, an injured worker can not only recover compensation, but can send a message to negligent parties about how important job safety really is. However, while workers’ compensation claims are available after almost all Arizona trench collapse accidents, the workers’ compensation laws only provide limited – albeit vital – protections and compensation to the injured worker. On the other hand, while personal injury claims are not available after all trench collapse incidents, if one is available it can be a life-changing benefit to the badly injured worker or the family that has lost a loved one. Getting the honest assessment of the possibility of a personal injury claim can be a vital step, and it usually takes the analysis of a skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable Arizona personal injury lawyer to help determine if a personal injury claim is viable after a trench collapse.

At Breyer Law, we understand the implications trench accidents can have for workers and their families. We’re here to help the injured worker obtain fair compensation for those injuries so they can cover the costs of ongoing medical care, vocational rehabilitation, and compensation for loss of enjoyment of life, where appropriate. This is a life changing decision, and bringing a personal injury claim is not the right decision for every injured construction worker, but it is almost always the best decision to gather the information necessary to make this important and possibly life-changing decision. Don’t rely an insurance companies to provide you this information, when that company will often benefit from you making a decision that is against your own self-interests.

If you need to gather the information necessary to determine what rights exist, please contact us for a free consultation. We are here to answer your questions about personal injury claims after a construction site injury in Arizona so that you can make an informed decision for you and your family.