If a workplace injury involves death or serious injury in Oregon and Washington an investigation should be made early on to figure out whether a third party independent injury claim for money damages can be brought in face of the current prohibition against bringing a claim against the employer because of workers compensation and labor and industries prohibitions.

Injuries at workplaces like construction sites can be serious- death, broken arms, broken legs, broken backs, crush injuries. Current law in Oregon and Washington does not allow employer suits by employees as this was set in place by the legislature when the workers compensation statutes were signed into law. An experienced injury lawyer can by a factual investigation determine if a money damage claim can be brought all the while the injured party could still get paid their benefits under the workers compensation system.

On job injuries or death estate claims can be brought even if the injured/deceased party was on the job if the at fault party is someone other than the employers like a co-worker, contractor, general contractor or any other third party.

You would be surprised at the number of children who suffer broken arms and legs and serious head injuries from falls through upstairs windows. These children fall because the windows are not secured properly. There are such problems as loose screens or windows without any child fall protection safety guards such as metal railings in private residential homes and hotels.

Any injury to a child in Oregon State and Washington State is serious especially when a child falls through an open or partially opened window and lands upon the ground and is injured. To recover money damages on child fall injury cases you must be able to show that the structural deficiency of the opening to the exterior fell below the minimum safety standard in the state. A good liability investigation in any child fall injury case also would best address whether there was proper supervision of the child by whomever was supervising the child. Children under 10 years of age require adult supervision and any brief thereof and a resulting injury may be enough to get the homeowners insurance company to assume responsibility for the child’s medical bills and even for pain and suffering of the child which depends upon the severity of the case at hand.

The trend in heightened safety on child fall injury cases is a good thing and in my opinion is a result of personal injury lawsuits and the push by good injury lawyers to hold homeowners to accountability for the safety of those on their property. We now see more and more homes with window guards which really are inexpensive and prevent kinds from being injured and dying in the worst case scenario. Lets hope the safety trend in installing child restraint safety window guard continues.

On all construction sites in the state of Oregon heavy construction equipment must be secured away from drivers on the road for safety reasons. Oregon law requires that construction equipment like forklift, bulldozers, and trucks have reflective warning cones around them and the construction site must be fenced off if the construction equipment is near the road.

The question on any construction site injury case is often whether the construction company
complied with the governing safety regulations and whether they were negligent. A reflective case on construction site auto injury cases is a case we settled for a significant amount in which our client suffered a major head injury after the car he was riding in struck a bulldozer which was parked without barricades or major warning devices next to the road. The construction companied from our investigation failed to adequately ensure that the construction site was marked off and this investigation together with expert witness involvement and evaluation resulted in a large money recovery for our client.