Washington Construction Site Injury
If you were injured while working on a construction site in Washington State, you may have the legal right to recover a money settlement for your injuries. Contact construction site injury lawyers at Washington Auto Law for a free consultation to discuss your Washington construction site injury.
Employer’s Duty
Every employer owes a duty to furnish a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause serious injury or death to its employees or to other employees on the jobsite, and to comply with the rules, regulations, and orders promulgated in the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, known as WISHA. If you were injured on a construction site in Washington due to an employer’s violation of WISHA, you may have a legal claim to recover a money settlement for your injuries.
Employer’s Duty & WISHA
Every employer has a duty to comply with specific rules and regulations of the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, known as WISHA. This duty extends to employees of other independent contractors on the job site. Employers must protect against construction site injuries by strictly complying with the safety rules of WISHA.
Duty of General Contractor
Under Washington law, a general contractor on a construction owes a duty to every employee at the job site, including employees of subcontractors, to ensure that it and its subcontractors comply with all applicable safety regulations. The general contractor is the party with innate supervisory authority and per se control over the job site, so it bears the primary, non-delegable duty to provide a safe workplace for subcontractor employees.
In Washington, all general contractors have a non-delegable specific duty to ensure compliance with all Washington State construction safety regulations.
Contact construction site injury lawyer James Banks for a free consultation to discuss your construction site injury. He will explain your legal rights and if your construction site injury may be the general contractor’s fault.
Subcontractor’s Duty
Under Washington law, a mid-tier subcontractor on a construction site owes a duty to every employee within the scope of its subcontract, including employees of its subcontractors, to ensure that it and its subcontractors comply with all applicable safety regulations. The mid-tier subcontractor is the party with innate supervisory authority and per se control over the scope of its subcontract, so it bears the primary, non-delegable duty to provide a safe workplace for its subcontractor’s employees.
In Washington, all mid-tier subcontractors have a non-delegable duty to ensure compliance, within the scope of their subcontracts, with all Washington State construction safety regulations.
Worker’s Contributory Negligence
A worker is not liable for contributory negligence merely because he or she knew or should have known of a dangerous condition negligently created or maintained, but rather only if his or her voluntary exposure to that risk is unreasonable under the circumstances.
Violation of the Administrative Rules or Statutes
Under Washington law, every employer must provide a reasonably safe workplace for its employees. An extension of this rule is that every person who exercised control over the site has a legal duty to all others on the site to keep the site reasonably safe. This duty has been extended to owners who exercise a degree of control over the work. The Stute Court states:
A general contractor’s supervisory authority is per se control over the workplace, and the duty is placed upon the general contractor as a matter of law. It is the general contractor’s responsibility to furnish safety equipment or to contractually require subcontractors to furnish adequate safety equipment relevant to their responsibilities.