In addition to workers compensation benefits, a worker injured on a construction site may be entitled to recovery from a third party. A third party personal injury or wrongful death case is when a party other than the individual’s employer is responsible for the worker’s injury. Often times, third party cases may be brought against general contractors, subcontractors or manufacturers of equipment.

A third party case allows an injured worker to make a recovery for damages not covered under workers compensation. Strellis & Field has lawyers and investigators fully versed in the complexities of third party construction cases. It is important that evidence is secured immediately following a construction accident to assure that injured workers get full compensation from all responsible parties.

Founding partner, Dennis Field, understands the concerns of injured workers. As a third generation ironworker, Dennis knows how severe injuries sustained on the job site can change the lives of people forever.

Strellis & Field is proud to represent many union workers involved in serious construction related injuries. We recognize that construction accidents are particularly devastating to skilled trades people and their families. In addition to medical bills, families are faced with future financial uncertainty because they are unable to return to the trade they love. All cases are handled with one goal in mind–to obtain maximum recovery for our clients and their families.

Lawyers at Strellis & Field use their contacts with experts in the fields of: construction safety, engineering, vocational rehabilitation and economics to fully develop all areas of a construction injury case. The regular use of expert witnesses in construction injury cases is just one more step our firm takes to maximize the recovery for our injured clients.

Our firm represented a skilled union worker who had his arm severed by a concrete saw blade that came loose on a road construction job-site. Strellis & Field prosecuted  this claim both on a negligence theory against the general contractor and on a products liability theory against the saw manufacturer.

We have obtained superior results for the following trades people:

• Ironworkers
• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Pipe fitters
• Carpenters
• Painters
• Masons
• Tuck Pointers
• Laborers
• Welders

If you have a construction related injury, contact a lawyer at Strellis & Field for a free consultation. At Strellis & Field we know injuries are not a planned event, nor do they occur during normal business hours. Our lawyers are available 24 hours a day to speak to people injured in construction accidents. We are also able to meet with clients at their home or hospital room.

For more information on our construction accident practice, we invite you to contact us, or call us at (312) 201-0000.

SAFETY – SAFETY – SAFETY

SAFETY is the most important part of any construction project. We are amazed at the disregard those involved in construction projects have for the most important aspect of the work. Injuries occur when safety is not at the forefront of a construction project. We take great pride in holding companies accountable if they act unreasonably on the jobsite by not taking safety seriously.

In our experience, construction companies have consistently focused on the wrong objective while constructing America’s roads, buildings, skyscrapers, power plants, refineries, highways and houses. Profit and timing are the focus for most of the construction trade at the expense of safety and the health and welfare of the innocent.

At Strellis & Field we have handled cases where catastrophic injuries result from misguided focus on profit rather than worker safety.  In part, because of our work, we have contributed to making workplaces safer by holding general contractors, owners, project managers, project superintendents, safety managers, engineers and subcontractors accountable for safety errors in the following situations:

• Exposing ironworkers to underground utility risks while they are retro-fitting power plants to ensure they comply with the Clean Air Act.
• Exposing underground utility storm and sewer laborers (top man and bottom man) to deep trenches that expose them to unprotected cave-in accidents.
• Exposing carpenters to risks associated with working on unsafe and unstable scaffolding.
• Exposing road construction laborers to risks associated with failures to comply with traffic control by having flaggers to warn of construction projects.
• Exposing laborers to risks associated with walk behind concrete saws.
• Exposing electricians to risks associated with working underneath overhead cranes and lifting devices.
• Exposing operators of construction equipment to the unsafe design defects of construction equipment and products.

We take great pride in ensuring that the skilled workers on any jobsite have Strellis & Field as an advocate to hold these companies accountable.

“Construction jobsite safety is the responsibility of every person on the jobsite.” – Gregg Strellis

When I review the “Safety Manual” for almost every contractor on the jobsite after an injury has occurred, the content of the manual would make you believe that Safety is important. The following are a few examples of language I have seen:

“The well being of all employees working on the jobsite is the highest priority”

“We believe that productive work habits and safe work habits are one in the same”

“Safety and well-being can be accomplished only through constant and sincere effort”

“It is everyone’s responsibility to act, think and perform work safely”

“We must work together to maintain a safe work environment. Together we can achieve our goal of accident free jobsites”

“Merely talking about safety is not sufficient”

What I have realized through litigating these construction cases is that rarely do the words in the Safety Manuals translate into safe work practices on the jobsite. Despite Safety being everyone’s responsibility, denial of responsibility is routine. Talk of safe work practices takes a back seat to getting the job done in a profitable manner.

At Strellis & Field our goal is to hold companies accountable to the promises and representations they make and to focus on safety at construction jobsites. This puts substance over form.

What is OSHA?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a part of the United States Department of Labor. With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created OSHA in an attempt to assure safe and healthful working conditions for men and women by setting safety standards and providing a venue for enforcement.

In every one of our construction cases OSHA regulations play an important role. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace. The OSHA regulations set out the minimum requirements as they relate to construction safety.