Working at a construction site is one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Construction accidents injure or kill thousands of workers every year. These accidents occur when the safety engineers and safety programs that the construction companies are obligated to oversee are either negligent or absent. No matter what the cause or nature of the injury, the worker is entitled to some kind of compensation.

When a construction worker is injured on the job, he or she cannot, in most instances, sue the employer for work related injuries. A third party, however, can be shown to be liable for negligence when an injury occurs on the job site, but even if the worker is injured due to his or her own carelessness, there is compensation available in most states through the Workers Compensation Act. Benefits such as weekly payments and medical expenses are awarded to an injured worker, but often these are not enough to cover the pain and suffering associated with an on-the-job injury. Weekly payments are based on a percentage of worker's weekly earnings and on the severity of the disability, whether it is a temporary total disability or a permanent partial disability. The medical expenses cover only those treatments deemed necessary and related to the specific work injury.

Certain circumstances can place blame for injuries that occur on the job site on a third party. The owners, architects, contractors and equipment manufacturers can all be liable for insufficient safety measures when an accident occurs. The general contractor and all subcontractors are responsible for providing the appropriate safety provisions to ensure the construction site is reasonable safe. It is their obligation to warn of possible hazards on the site, to hire employees who will use caution while working, to coordinate job safety and to check that the safety specifications are being followed.

Manufacturers of construction equipment are responsible for designing and maintaining safe products. Defective or dangerous products may be at fault in a construction accident. With all of the equipment used on a construction site, the chance for injury is great, but if the proper safety measures are not employed in the making of this equipment, the chance of an injury or a death occurring increase greatly. The manufacturers on this equipment can be found liable when an accident occurs due to one of their products. Equipment used on a construction site include the following: scaffolding, cranes, power tools, derricks, hoists, conveyors, woodworking tools, ladders, winches, trucks, graters, scrapers, tractors, bulldozers, forklifts, back hoes, heavy equipment, boilers, pressure vessels, gas detectors and other types of construction equipment.