1. Who pays if I was injured in a construction accident in Nevada?
Nevada construction workers who get injured on the job can generally file for workers’ compensation benefits with their employer. Depending on the employee’s specific injuries, the construction company’s workers’ comp insurer may pay for:
- medical treatment and chiropractic care;
- temporary disability;
- permanent disability; and/or
- vocational rehabilitation
If the worker dies, the family may recover death benefits (consisting of income replacement).
The workers’ compensation system is separate from the regular court system. Employees are not allowed to “take their employer to court” or sue the company they work for.
However, employees can bring traditional lawsuits against “third parties” who contributed to their injuries such as:
- the property owner or
- the manufacturer of malfunctioning equipment.1
Independent Contractors
Some construction workers in Nevada are not employees but instead independent contractors. In these cases, injured workers can bring a traditional negligence lawsuit against their employer (and any other negligent parties contributing to the injuries).
Injured workers can also bring strict products liability lawsuits against the manufacturers of any equipment that malfunctioned and injured them.
A settlement or verdict could include compensatory damages for:
- medical expenses;
- lost wages;
- diminished earning capacity;
- pain and suffering; and/or
- wrongful death damages if the worker died.
Workers’ compensation laws are simpler than traditional personal injury case lawsuits. Since injured employees can only be paid up to the maximum benefit allowed by the workers’ compensation insurance company, the payout is potentially less.
However, an advantage of workers’ comp is that it compensates workers even if they were at fault for the accident. It also pays out more quickly than many other legal remedies.2
Construction workers may sustain serious harm including brain injuries from falling objects, electrocution, malfunctioning forklifts and other heavy machinery.
2. How quickly do I have to act to get paid?
To be eligible for workers’ comp benefits under Nevada law, injured employees must notify the employer within a seven-day time limit of becoming aware of the injury. The worker must then see an authorized physician, who then submits the C4 form to file the worker’s comp claim.3
Independent contractors – or employees injured by non-employer third parties – must file personal injury lawsuits within two years after the injury occurred. This statute of limitations may seem like a long time, but it takes a while for personal injury attorneys to craft a winning lawsuit.
In any case, the more time that goes by, the more evidence disappears. So injured workers are encouraged to consult with a lawyer right away.4
3. How can an attorney help me?
Firstly, a Nevada construction accident attorney can determine whether you must file for workers’ comp. Even if you must, an attorney can also determine if you can bring traditional lawsuits against any third parties who contributed to your injuries.
Secondly, an accident attorney will handle the entire legal process from there on out while you concentrate on healing. Specifically, your attorney will:
- investigate the accident and gather all the relevant evidence;
- handle all the legal paperwork and communications with the workers’ comp insurer and/or defendants;
- aggressively negotiate with the workers’ comp insurer and/or lawsuit defendants in pursuit of the largest settlement possible; and
- if necessary, appeal the workers’ comp decision and/or go to trial.
With so many possible sources of liability, it is easy to get the brushoff when you try to settle claims yourself. However, experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyers can cut through the red tape, get to the right party, and win every dollar you are entitled to under the law.
See our related article, Is there a Nevada construction injury statute?
Nevada workers can report unsafe working conditions to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
4. How common are construction injuries in Nevada?
Common, especially in Las Vegas where there is always construction. In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 3.9 incidents of occupational illness and injuries per every 100 construction workers. There were also 14 deaths.5
Common construction site litigation involves lawsuits for injuries caused by:
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to the following:
- Has Devolution Injured American Workers? State and Federal Enforcement of Construction Safety – The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization.
- Injury surveillance in construction: What is an “injury,” anyway? – American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
- Analysis of construction injury burden by type of work – American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
- Injury Hazards in the Construction Industry – Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
- An Aging Workforce and Injury in the Construction Industry – Epidemiologic Reviews.
Legal References
- NRS 616A – 616C. See, for example, Constr. Indus. Workers’ Comp. Group v. Chalue (2003) 119 Nev. 348.
- NRS 616B.603(3)(a). NRS 624.020. See also Richards v. Republic Silver State Disposal, Inc. (2006) 122 Nev. 1213.
- NRS 616C.015.
- NRS 11.190.
- State Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, Bureau of Labor Statistics.