Scaffolding-related accidents cause almost 4,500 injuries and 60 deaths per year.1 If you are injured on scaffolding or by falling from a scaffold, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit for compensation.
Scaffolding accidents can be caused by defective equipment, negligence, or property owners who fail to provide safe conditions. Potential defendants in a lawsuit include:
- The scaffolding manufacturer,
- The construction company,
- The contractor or subcontractor,
- Construction workers, or
- The property owner.
Below, our California personal injury lawyers discuss the following topics:
- 1. What causes scaffolding accidents?
- 2. What are my grounds to sue?
- 3. What financial compensation can I get?
- 4. What if the accident happened at work?
- 5. Scaffolding accident settlements and jury verdict awards
- Additional Reading
If you have further questions about scaffolding accidents after reading this article, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group.
Falling from scaffolding can cause paralysis or even death.
1. What causes scaffolding accidents?
In 2023 alone, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) logged 2,835 scaffolding violations. The majority of scaffolding accidents were caused by:
- Planking giving way – standard practice is that all planking must overlap by at least one foot.
- Supports giving way – scaffolding should support four times (or more) of its weight.
- Slip and fall accidents – to be safe, scaffolding and walkways should be no less than 18 inches wide.
- Being struck by a falling object – any workers underneath the scaffolding must wear hard hats, and workers on the scaffolding cannot let tools or debris to accumulate.2
Other causes of scaffolding accidents are:
- Improper training and lack of supervision,
- Rotting wood or debris on the scaffold,
- Lack of safety equipment,
- Lack of fall protection,
- Bad weather causing the scaffolding to collapse or items to fall from the scaffolding, and
- Scaffolding touching electric wires.
Scaffolding injuries can be very serious, including fractures, lacerations, burns from electrocutions, and trauma to the head or neck.
2. What are my grounds to sue?
Following a scaffolding accident, you can typically sue on the grounds of negligence, premises liability, and product liability, as discussed below.
Negligence
To prove the defendant’s negligence caused your scaffolding accident, you would need to show:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care;
- The defendant breached that duty of care;
- The breach caused your injuries; and
- As a result of the breach, you suffered damages.
Example: Jack is working construction on a scaffold. By accident he knocks over a toolbox, which falls off the scaffolding because he forgot to put up a guardrail. Jen below gets hit and sustains a concussion. She can sue Jack for negligence because he failed to set up the scaffolding property, which resulted in Jen’s damages.
Note if you were injured by a construction employee, you can sue their employer (such as the general contractor).2 Employers are vicariously liable for the negligence of their employees. They also have much deeper pockets than individual workers.4
Premises Liability
Property owners have a duty to others who lawfully come on their property to:
- keep the property in a safe condition and
- warn against hazards.
If you were injured by scaffolding, the property owner may be liable due to premises liability even if they were not at the site and had nothing to do with setting up the scaffolding.5
Example: Andie owns an apartment complex. Scaffolding is set up while repairs are being done above the front entrance. Andie forgets to put up a sign warning tenants to use only the back entrance. Later when Audrey walks towards the front entrance, a trowel from the scaffolding gets accidentally dropped on her, causing a deep cut. She can sue Andie for failing to warn her about the safety hazard, which caused her to get injured.
Products Liability
Even when workers follow safety regulations and put scaffolding up the right way, a defect in the scaffolding equipment can cause it to collapse.
In a products liability lawsuit, anyone who designs, manufactures, or sells a defective product is strictly liable for damages caused by the product defect. You do not need to show that any one person or company was negligent. Instead, you need to prove:
- The defendant designed, manufactured, or sold the product;
- The product was defective when it left the defendant’s possession;
- You used the product in a reasonably foreseeable manner; and
- You suffered damage as a result of the defect.6
3. What financial compensation can I get?
Following a scaffolding accident, you can sue the liable parties for compensatory damages to cover your:
- Medical bills,
- Loss of income,
- Lost earning capacity,
- Emotional damages,
- Pain and suffering,
- Compensation for scars,
- Compensation for loss of a limb,
- Loss of consortium,
- Emotional harm, and
- Pain and suffering.
If your family member was killed in a scaffolding accident, you can bring a wrongful death lawsuit to seek reimbursement for burial expenses and the loss of support and companionship.7
4. What if the accident happened at work?
When you are injured on the job, damages may be limited to workers’ compensation claims. However, you may still be able to file a traditional lawsuit against your employer if:
- They willfully and physically assaulted you;
- The injury was aggravated by something your employer fraudulently concealed; or
- Your employer did not have workers’ comp insurance.8
Also, if your accident was caused by a third-party or independent contractor, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against them for damages.
5. Settlements accident settlements and jury verdict awards
- A construction worker in New York City (Bronx) fell while climbing over cross braces on scaffolding and suffered broken ribs, a torn knee, and injured shoulder. An NYC jury returned a verdict in favor of the victim for $2.9 million.
- Scaffolding used for building cleaners in Chicago was blown off the building in high winds and crushed two cars on the street below. Four people were killed and another six people were injured. In a wrongful death lawsuit, the defendants agreed to an out-of-court settlement for $75 million in damages.
- A man in New York was paralyzed from the chest down when a large piece of scaffolding fell on his back. In a settlement with the defendants, the victim received $27 million in compensation.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Investigation of scaffolding accident in a construction site: A case study analysis – Engineering Failure Analysis.
- Identification of accident scenarios involving scaffolding – Automation in Construction.
- Causes of Accidents Involving Scaffolding at Construction Sites – Journal of Technology Management and Business.
- The analysis of the stages of scaffolding “life” with regard to the decrease in the hazard at building works – Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering.
- Safety Problems and Injuries on Construction Site: A Review – International Journal of Engineering and Techniques.
Legal References:
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Safety and Health Topics. Scaffolding. (Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2003 and 2004 data for the private sector). Scaffold Stats & Facts, Safety Now.
- Top 10: Finalized Data Released for Fiscal Year 2023, National Association of Safety Professionals (May 10, 2024).
- See, for example, California Civil Code section 1714(a) (“Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her property or person.”) See also Turner v. Mandalay Sports Entm’t, LLC, 124 Nev. 213, 180 P.3d 1172 (2008); Perez v. Las Vegas Med. Ctr., 107 Nev. 1, 4, 805 P.2d 589 (1991). Perez v. Van Groningen & Sons, Inc. (1986) 41 Cal.3d 962, 967 (“Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer is vicariously liable for his employee’s torts committed within the scope of the employment.”)
- See, for example, California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) 3701 — Tort Liability Asserted Against Principal–Essential Factual Elements. See also Lisa M. v. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (1995) 12 Cal.4th 291, 296–297 (“The rule of respondeat superior is familiar and simply stated: an employer is vicariously liable for the torts of its employees committed within the scope of the employment.“)
- California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) (2017) 1000. Premises Liability. Essential Factual Elements. See also Sprecher v. Adamson Companies (1981) 30 Cal.3d 358.
- Soule v. GM Corp. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 548, 560 (“A manufacturer, distributor, or retailer is liable in tort if a defect in the manufacture or design of its product causes injury while the product is being used in a reasonably foreseeable way.”)
- California Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 (“A cause of action for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another may be asserted by any of the following persons or by the decedent’s personal representative on their behalf: (a) The decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, and issue of deceased children, or, if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the property of the decedent by intestate succession.”)
- Cal. Lab. Code § 3706.