Philadelphia Top Injury Lawyer Blog

In a settlement approved by Philadelphia Common Please Judge Marlene Lachman earlier this month, a New Jersey carpenter was awarded $7.9 million in compensation for life-altering injuries suffered during a construction accident. Contingencies could push the award up to $8.1 million.

While working on exterior trim during construction of a multi-story residential retirement community in Delaware County, carpenter Victor Tavares fell three stories when a guardrail gave way. The fall left the 46-year-old man paralyzed from the lower back down. Tavares' legs were so severely disfigured in the construction accident that he had to undergo 12 surgeries in attempts to repair the most grievous damage to his limbs.

Philadelphia personal injury attorneys sued a group of defendants for nearly $7.2 million on behalf of Tavares and his family. Two rounds of settlement talks, the second mediated by Judge Lachman, led to a last-minute agreement between the parties just hours before jury selection was scheduled to begin.

Philadelphia personal injury construction accidents are complex to litigate. Construction site activities are managed and populated by myriad parties, including site owners, contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers and workers. When Philadelphia construction accidents occur, more than one party at the site often bears responsibility for conditions, materials or negligence that contributed to the accident.

Sorting out the level of responsibility of each party and coming to terms with each party's insurance carrier is a complicated and lengthy process. Considerable investigation may need to be performed to uncover critical facts about the accident. Industry, medical and accident reconstruction experts may need to be consulted. Insurance companies for each involved party have to be dealt with.

\When serious accidents occur on job sites, Philadelphia construction injury attorneys can pursue the accident victim's right to just compensation, allowing the accident victim to concentrate on recovery.

Two Pennsylvania natural gas workers suffered serious personal injures and were flown to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre for treatment following a construction accident at a drilling site in northern Pennsylvania. One worker suffered broken ribs and the other suffered lacerations to his skull caused by a flying piece of metal when a pipe coupling blew apart at a Tioga County natural gas well operated by Ultra Resources. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

This serious Pennsylvania construction accident comes on the heels of a natural gas well blowout in central Pennsylvania earlier this month. While, fortunately, no one was injured in that construction accident, explosive natural gas and toxic wastewater spewed into the air, polluting nearby land for 16 hours before EOG Resources workers could bring the blowout under control. Safety concerns sparked by the blowout caused Pennsylvania regulators to halt work at 70 other natural gas wells under construction by EOG Resources.

Natural gas drilling is an admittedly hazardous profession which makes adherence to safety standards and practices all that much more vitally important to protect the health and safety of construction workers. As recent incidents illustrate, construction workers face the risk of serious personal injury every time they step on the job site. Companies that fail to protect their workers' safety can be held liable for workers' injuries. Just a few of the many negligent activities that can contribute to Philadelphia construction accidents include:

• Inadequate or incompetent supervision
• Defective or poorly maintained equipment
• Negligent drilling, blasting or tunneling procedures
• Unprotected openings
• Improper scaffolding procedures
• Improper handling of gases or chemicals
• Failure to maintain access areas
• Insufficient bracing or support of structures

The complexity of Philadelphia construction accident claims requires expert investigation by knowledgeable Philadelphia personal injury lawyers experienced in pursuing construction accident claims.

Last night's Presidential message brought home the extreme danger and devastation possible when man drills into the Earth to tap its vast store of natural resources. Eleven BP workers lost their lives in the horrific Deepwater Horizon drill rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Recent news reports make it clear that those lives were put at risk by faulty and negligent safety practices at BP and abysmal oversight by federal regulators. While repercussions from the Gulf Coast tragedy will eventually reverberate here in Philadelphia, distance makes the suffering experienced on those distant shores feel remote. However, the threat of disaster exists closer to home than many Philadelphians would expect.

Tragedy in Philadelphia's own backyard was narrowly averted last week when a blowout occured at a natural gas drilling site in rural western Pennsylvania. The construction accident 100 miles from Pittsburgh had the potential to create a massive explosion. While the drill site did not catch fire, the construction accident sent 35,000 of gallons of explosive natural gas and toxic drilling fluid shooting 75 feet into the air. It took EOG, a Huston-based drilling company, nearly 16 hours to repair the blowout and halt the flow.

A similar construction accident at a West Virginia natural gas drill site resulted in a fireball that injured seven workers last week; and an natural gas blowout at a Texas site killed one worker and hospitalized two workers with serious burns.

The recent natural gas blowout is not the first time EOG operations have resulted in Pennsylvania construction accidents. Last September two spills on EOG sites were caused by faulty piping connections, and a third spill was attributed to a ruptured hose.

Philadelphia construction companies are responsible for their workers' safety and for maintaining construction equipment in good repair. If you are involved in a construction accident, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney can investigate and make certain that your rights are protected.

New federal rules targeting lead paint dust highlight a serious personal injury threat for Philadelphia residents contemplating a home remodeling project. Beginning April 22, new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules will require that all contractors be certified and trained in safe methods for reducing job site dust. The new rules apply to any remodeling or construction job with the potential to release paint dust into the air. Training and new safety measures are expected to add $8 to $167 to the cost of interior remodeling projects, more for exterior jobs.

From window replacement to major projects like a room addition or kitchen rehab, most remodeling projects create large quantities of construction dust. In homes painted with lead paint, even if that paint has been covered over with lead-free paint, construction dust will include particles of lead from old paint. When breathed in, these lead particles can cause brain damage; behavioral, learning and growth difficulties; hearing problems; and headaches in still developing children. Lead dust can cause reproductive problems in adults, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, high blood pressure and memory loss. Although lead paint was outlawed in 1978, the EPA has linked many recent cases of lead poisoning personal injury to remodeling projects.

Nearly all Philadelphia homes built before 1940 (87%) were painted with lead paint. From 1940 to 1960 as newer paint formulas were developed, the EPA estimates that lead paint was used in 69% percent of homes. That figure dropped to 24% from 1961 to 1978 as the dangers of lead paint were discovered. Since its discontinuation in 1978 no U.S. homes have been contaminated with lead paint. However, particularly in older homes, the danger of serious personal injury persists when old paint is uncovered during remodeling.

Manslaughter charges were filed in New York this week that point to a potentially worrisome Philadelphia personal injury issue. Two construction workers died in a May 2008 construction accident when a giant construction crane fell apart, sending pieces of the 200-foot tall crane crashing onto the construction site and a nearby apartment building. Investigation found that the crane owner had recently had the crane repaired, hiring an obscure Chinese firm over the Internet to weld a critical component. Shortly thereafter, the weld failed, killing two workers at a Manhattan construction site. The crane owner's attempt to save money during these difficult financial times imperiled construction workers and the public.

The incident raises some serious questions for construction workers and the public. As the recession drags on, Philadelphia business owners, particularly those in the construction trades, continue to be squeezed financially. How many construction equipment owners are resorting to cheap equipment repairs or cheap parts to save money? How many construction workers are being forced to work with faulty equipment because their employers don't have the money to finance often expensive repairs?

In these difficult financial times when jobs are at a premium, particularly in the hard-hit construction trades, workers are disinclined to risk unemployment by blowing the whistle on employers who take liberties with safety standards. Workers may have no way of knowing when equipment repairs are substandard. It is even possible, though less likely, that construction equipment owners may be duped by unscrupulous repair services. Faulty construction equipment repairs could be placing Philadelphia construction workers and Philadelphia residents at serious risk of personal injury or even death should a serious construction accident occur.

When a construction accident occurs in Philadelphia, comprehensive investigation by a skilled personal injury attorney can uncover the true cause of the construction accident and determine actual fault and responsibility.

Despite the snow stacked along Philadelphia streets, it won't belong before Philadelphia homeowners are trading in their shovels for driveway squeegees. Spreading a new layer of thick, black, tarry sealant over asphalt driveways is an annual right of spring in Philadelphia. In use for more than 50 years, driveway sealant helps keep asphalt from cracking and crumbling, extending the life of asphalt driveways and parking lots. However, a new study reveals that using coal tar-based sealants could present a product liability issue that endangers the health of Philadelphia families.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating recent studies that have found dangerous levels of toxic compounds in many commonly sold driveway sealants. Driveway sealants are made from either petroleum or coal tar. While petroleum-based sealants have not been targeted, coal tar-based sealants can contain dangerous concentrations of toxic polyaromatic hydrocarbons, or PAH. Carried into homes on the bottoms of shoes by weekend warriors, PAH breaks down and becomes part of the household dust you breathe every day. These toxic compounds do additional damage to the environment when tiny grains of sealant are dislodged by car tires, brooms or snow shovels and carried into streets where rain water eventually washes these lethal compounds into Philadelphia's streams and rivers.

In a 2009 study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, the level of PAH found in household dust inside apartment buildings where parking lots were coated with coal-tar sealant was 25 times greater than normal. Published in the January 2010 issue of the Environmental Science and Technology journal, study authors expressed concern about the effect of PAH particles and dust on babies and crawling toddlers. Increased PAH in household dust could cause personal injury to asthmatics, the elderly and those suffering from pulmonary ailments or lung disease.

If you are concerned that you or a family member may have suffered personal injury from breathing PAH dust from driveway sealant, schedule a free consultation with a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to investigate your rights.

If you work in Philadelphia's construction industry, you could have a one in 10 annual chance of suffering an accident that results in a serious injury. More than 135,350 construction-related accidents were reported to the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) in 2007, 1,178 of them fatal. The majority of injured workers were in their prime earning years between the ages of 25 and 34. The bulk of the construction injuries reported were to the back or truck with leg and arm injuries being the next most numerous. The average length of time injured Philadelphia construction workers were off the job was a minimum of 31 days. The greatest number of injuries resulted from falls or injurious contact with construction equipment.

Despite safety rules and regulations, construction work is among the most dangerous jobs. Hundreds of Philadelphia construction workers are injured every year and, tragically, some die each year in Philadelphia construction accidents. Workers' compensation and insurance benefits can be complex and take time to collect. Often cause and responsibility for the accident affect who pays. Decisions about who pays for an accident can get bogged down in complicated job contracts and subcontracts, leaving the ailing construction worker and his family without the resources they need to pay medical and household bills. When Philadelphia construction accidents result in disability or loss of life, benefits may not begin to cover the individual or his family's loss.

A Philadelphia personal injury lawyer experienced in investigating construction accident claims may be the only way to protect yourself and your family. A highly experienced and knowledgeable Philadelphia construction accident attorney with years of practical experience in Philadelphia courts has the best opportunity of discovering information vital to your case.