Utah Construction Accident Lawyer
Table of Contents
One second, you are up on a scaffold. Next, you are on the ground, and nothing about your life looks the same. Construction is brutal work, and when something goes wrong on a Utah job site, the injuries are rarely small: broken backs, crushed limbs, brain injuries, burns, and sometimes a family losing someone who left for work that morning.
Then the questions pile up. Is workers’ comp all you get? Can you go after anyone else? Who was actually running that site? Cockayne Law answers those questions and pursues every claim Utah law gives you.
Book Your Consultation: (801) 268-2491
How a Utah Construction Accident Lawyer Can Help
Most people hurt on a Utah construction site figure they have one claim: workers’ comp. Often there is a second claim against a company that was never their employer, and the order you handle them in matters.
Part of our job is figuring out who your employer was under Utah law, which isn’t always the company that signs your check. We also move fast on evidence. A scaffold gets torn down before anyone thinks to photograph it, a damaged harness goes back on a truck, and a week later nobody remembers which subcontractor was working above you.
If UOSH, the state’s job site safety agency, inspected the site, we look for that file too.
Types of Construction Accidents We Help Investigate
Utah’s workplace safety agency has pointed out four hazards behind most construction deaths in the state: falls, getting stuck by something, getting caught between objects, or electrocution. Our cases are about those and several other kinds of accidents.
Falls From Heights and Scaffolding Accidents
The cause is usually ordinary. A guardrail that was never installed, a scaffold put together by someone who wasn’t qualified, or a roofer sent up with a harness but nothing to clip it to.
If a company had a fall protection plan on paper, we want to know whether anyone followed it.
Crane, Heavy Equipment, and Machinery Accidents
In these types of cases, mostly three types of questions occurred. Like how it was operated, who was supposed to be watching, and who maintained the machine. A crane lift with no single person, one example.
A loader with a dead backup alarm is another. If the equipment itself failed, the claim may reach the manufacturer or the company that rented it out.
Falling Objects and Construction Debris
Tools and materials dropped from upper levels can cause serious head injuries and spine injuries to whoever is below. We look at whether that area was cordoned off, whether there was netting or a toe board in place, and whether anyone was standing under an active lift.
Electrical Accidents and Electrocution
Overhead power lines are the classic case, usually a boom or ladder that drifted too close. Inside a building, it’s more often exposed wiring or a circuit nobody de-energized and locked out before work started.
People who survived can be left with burns and lasting nerve or hurt problems.
Trench Collapses and Caught-Between Accidents
OSHA construction rules, which UOSH enforces in Utah, require a protective system in any trench five feet deep or more unless it cuts into stable rock.
A competent person has to inspect every day. When a wall gives way, that’s where we begin, and an unshored trench with straight sides usually tells us a lot.
Caught between cases over more ground, a laborer pinned against a wall by an excavator bucket, a pipe section that rolled, and a stack of blocks that shifted. Those are turns on who was directing the work in that spot.
Fires, Explosions, and Chemical Exposure
Welding and torch cutting cause a lot of these, especially when no one posted a fire watch or the work was done near fuel or insulation that burns.
Strikes on gas lines are another common one, and the first thing we ask is whether the crew called Bluestakes of Utah before digging.
Chemical exposure is slower, with symptoms sometimes lagging the job by weeks. If you worked around fumes or solvents, keep the product’s safety data sheet and write down who else was in the area.
Who May Be Liable for a Construction Accident in Utah?
Your employer is almost always off the table because of workers’ comp. That doesn’t make it the only company you can go after.
A construction site has contractors stacked on top of each other, and the one that caused your injury is often not the one that hired you.
Workers’ Compensation vs. Third-Party Construction Accident Claims
When Workers’ Compensation May Apply
Most Utah employers must carry workers’ comp (Utah Code § 34A-2-201). It pays medical bills and part of your lost wages without proving fault. The catch is § 34A-2-105, which bars a lawsuit against your employer and its officers, agents, and employees.
Exceptions are narrow, such as an employer who meant to injure you or never had the required coverage.
When a Third-Party Lawsuit May Be Possible
If someone other than your employer caused the accident, Utah Code § 34A-2-106 lets you sue them for damages, including pain and suffering, which comp doesn’t pay.
Can You Pursue Both Claims?
Yes, you have to give your employer and its carrier written notice before suing, and the carrier can claim repayment from your recovery.
What Compensation May Be Available After a Construction Accident?
Medical Expenses and Future Treatment
Workers’ comp covers medical care for a work injury. In a third-party case, you can also seek the cost of treatment you’ll need later, like follow-up surgeries and rehab, prosthetics, or home modifications.
Lost Wages and Reduced Earning Capacity
Compensate for part of your wages while you are off work. If you can’t go back to your trade or can only do lighter work for less money, a third-party claim can account for the lower pay over the rest of your career.
Pain, Suffering, and Other Personal Injury Damages
Comp doesn’t pay for pain, disfigurement, or loss of enjoyment of life. A third-party lawsuit can.
Permanent Disability and Wrongful Death
Comp includes benefits for permanent impairments and death benefits for dependents. If someone else’s negligence caused a death, a family or the estate’s personal representative may also have a wrongful death claim.
COME BACK STRONGER
After Accident
What Should You Do After a Construction Site Accident?
Get medical care first and tell the provider the injury happened at work. Then report it to your employer in writing, if you can.
Utah gives you up to 180 days to notify your employer, but there’s no reason to wait. Once your employer knows, it should file a first report of injury (Form 122) with the Labor Commission within seven days, so ask for a copy.
If you’re able, take photos of the scene, the equipment, and your injuries, and write down who was working nearby and which companies were on site. Keep your harness, helmet, or any damaged gear.
Don’t give a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster or sign anything until you have talked to a lawyer.
Utah Construction Accident Laws and Filing Deadlines
Several different laws can apply to one construction accident, and each has its own deadline.
Claim | Deadline | Utah Code |
Tell your employer about a work injury | 180 days | § 34A-2-407 |
Third-party injury lawsuit | 4 years | § 78B-2-307 |
Product defect claim (equipment, tools) | Generally 2 years from when you discovered the harm and its cause | § 78B-6-706 |
Wrongful death | 2 years from the date of death | § 78B-2-304 |
Claim against a government entity or on a public project | Notice of claim generally within 1 year | § 63G-7-402 |
The deadlines for the formal workers’ comp claim and for keeping benefits going are set separately under the Workers’ Compensation Act and Labor Commission rules. Missing them can end your benefits, so ask the Commission or us before assuming you have time.
Utah also uses modified comparative fault (§ 78B-5-818). If you share blame for the accident, your recovery is reduced by your percentage. If your fault is equal to or greater than everyone else’s combined, you recover nothing in a lawsuit. Workers’ comp generally doesn’t depend on fault.
How Cockayne Law Can Help With Your Construction Accident Case
We begin by finding out who employed you, who ran the site, and what happened. From there, we request incident reports, safety records, and any UOSH inspection files, and we talk to coworkers who saw it.
We deal with workers’ comp carriers, and if another company is responsible, we build that claim alongside the comp case. You had to be recovering while we handled the paperwork and the phone calls.
Helping Injured People Across Utah
We take construction accident cases from all over the state. If you were hurt on a job site in Salt Lake Valley, you can read about our West Jordan personal injury lawyer services. For Weber County, see our West Jordan attorney page, and for Utah County, our Provo personal injury lawyer page. If your site was somewhere else, call us anyway.
Call For a Free Consultation: (801) 268-2491
FAQs
Usually not. Utah Code § 34A-2-105 makes workers’ comp your only remedy against your employer and its officers, agents, and employees. You may have options if the employer meant to injure you or never carried the required insurance. Also, if you sign the coverage waiver as an independent contractor, your status depends on how the work was actually done, not on the paperwork.
Yes, Utah Code § 34A-2-106 allows both. You have to give your employer and its carrier written notice first, and the carrier can claim repayment from what you recover.
Either one can be a third party you sue, but it depends. A subcontractor in the same contractor chain as your employer may share your employer’s immunity under § 34A-2-103. A manufacturer faces a product claim, which generally has a two-year deadline.
You can still recover in a lawsuit unless your fault equals or exceeds everyone else’s combined. If you are under that line, your award is reduced by your share. Fault generally doesn’t change your workers’ comp benefit.
You have 180 days to report the injury to your employer and four years for most third-party lawsuits and two years for wrongful death. The table above lists the rest, but call early, because evidence goes quickly.
Discuss Your Utah Construction Accident Case With Cockayne Law
If you were hurt on a Utah job site, or you lost a family member there, call Cockayne Law at (801) 268-2491 or fill out a form to contact us, and we’ll go over what happened. The consultation is free, and we’ll tell you which claims may be open to you and what deadlines apply.
[Legal Disclaimer]
This page provides general information about construction accident claims in UTAH including cities like Salt Lake City, West Jordan, West Valley City, Taylorsville, Orem, Sandy, Cottonwood, Murray, East Millcreek and Ogden, and is not legal advice, as almost every case is different. For case-specific guidance, consult a qualified attorney.
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Our Locations
6671 S Redwood Rd Ste 110, West Jordan, UT 84084, United States
574 E 1400 S, Orem, UT 84097, United States
2650 Washington Blvd, Ogden, UT 84401, United States
Areas Of Services
- kearns
- magna
- Salt Lake City
- rose park
- West valley city
- Provo Utah
- taylorsville
- west jordan
- Ogden & Weber
