Construction Accidents Serving Families Throughout Orlando

Construction Accident Attorney in Orlando

Engineering Analysis Meets Personal Injury Advocacy

Construction accident cases demand more than courtroom experience. They require an attorney who can read a site safety report, identify a machinery failure, and understand what went wrong before the evidence disappears. At Legally Pink Law, founding attorney Carolyn Salzmann brings both. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, was inducted into the National Chemical Engineering Honor Society, and graduated third in her class from the University of Toledo School of Law. That combination of technical training and legal skill is directly relevant to the evidence that determines liability and drives settlements in construction accident claims.

Construction injury cases are among the most complex in personal injury law. They involve OSHA and site safety compliance, engineering-related causation, and overlapping liability among employers, subcontractors, property owners, and equipment manufacturers. We’ve been handling these cases since 2010, and Salzmann’s engineering background allows her to quantify velocity and angles of impact, assess equipment failures, and evaluate safety standard violations in ways that affect both liability determinations and settlement outcomes.

If you were injured on the job and need workers’ compensation, call Legally Pink Law at (888) 979-4941 for a free consultation.

Steps to Take After a Construction Accident

What you do in the hours and days after a construction accident can directly affect your ability to recover compensation. Construction sites change fast: equipment gets repaired, debris gets cleared, and witnesses move on to the next job. Acting quickly protects both your health and your legal rights.

Protect yourself and your claim by taking these steps:

Seek medical attention immediately, even for injuries that feel minor. Keep records of all medical bills, doctor’s notes, and diagnoses.
Report the injury to your employer or site manager. Florida law requires injured workers to report within 30 days to qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.
Document everything. Photograph your injuries, the accident scene, any equipment involved, and any visible hazards.
Collect witness information. Get the names and contact details of anyone who saw the accident.
Preserve the equipment or tool involved. Don’t allow it to be repaired, removed, or returned to service before it can be inspected.
Contact a construction accident lawyer in Orlando as early as possible. Evidence can be lost or altered within days, and early investigation is important to identifying every liable party.

All cases are handled on contingency, so you pay no fees unless we win. Call us today at (888) 979-4941 to get started.

Who Can Be Held Liable in an Orlando Construction Accident

Florida law requires construction industry employers with one or more employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Workers’ comp is a no-fault system: you don’t need to prove your employer was negligent to receive benefits. In exchange, it generally shields the employer from a separate civil lawsuit. Exceptions apply when an employer fails to carry required coverage or when there is clear and convincing evidence of intentional harm.

Workers’ compensation is rarely the end of the liability picture on a construction site, though. When a party other than your employer caused or contributed to the accident, you may pursue a personal injury lawsuit against that third party. This matters because workers’ comp doesn’t cover pain and suffering, and a third-party claim can recover damages workers’ comp leaves out.

Potentially liable third parties in construction accident cases include:

Property owners who failed to maintain safe site conditions
Equipment and tool manufacturers whose defective products caused the injury
Subcontractors whose negligence created the hazard
Engineers or architects who designed unsafe structures or specified hazardous methods
Trucking companies or drivers whose vehicles struck a worker on or near the site

If a subcontractor doesn’t carry required workers’ compensation insurance, Florida law may make the general contractor responsible for the benefits owed to those workers. Identifying every liable party requires early investigation before the site changes and evidence is gone.

What Compensation May Be Available to Injured Construction Workers

Workers’ compensation benefits for construction workers in Florida can include payment of medical expenses, partial wage replacement (generally two-thirds of average weekly wages for total disability), and death benefits for families of workers killed on the job. What workers’ comp doesn’t cover is pain and suffering.

In a personal injury lawsuit against a liable third party, injured construction workers may be able to recover a broader range of damages.

Damages available in a third-party personal injury claim can include:

Economic damages: medical expenses beyond workers’ comp, full lost wages, future medical costs, and rehabilitation
Non-economic damages: pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and emotional distress
Punitive damages in cases involving gross negligence or intentional misconduct

Families of workers killed in construction accidents may pursue wrongful death claims to recover the worker’s lost lifetime earnings, funeral expenses, and loss of companionship. The total value of any claim depends on the severity of the injury, the number of liable parties, and the strength of the evidence gathered early in the process.

Why Orlando Construction Workers Choose Legally Pink Law

Salzmann’s engineering training isn’t a footnote. It has been critical in numerous construction accident settlements, enabling us to identify machinery failures and site safety violations that a litigation-only approach might miss. She also holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, which allows her to quantify the full economic picture of a serious construction injury, including future earning capacity and lifetime care costs.

Technical Knowledge & Legal Credentials

Our attorneys are well versed in state and federal workplace safety regulations, including OSHA standards governing fall protection, electrical safety, and equipment operation. In construction accident claims, having an attorney who understands engineering principles alongside those safety standards can help identify the true cause of an accident and whether every liable party gets named.

Salzmann’s recognition reflects a track record built case by case. She has been named a Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney in Florida by Attorney and Practice Magazine, a Top 10 Best Attorney in Florida by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys, and is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an honor extended to fewer than 1% of attorneys in the United States. She was also the first non-judge recipient of the James Glazebrook Professionalism Award.

How We Work with Clients

We maintain a small client-to-attorney ratio, and Salzmann personally oversees every case. Clients reach us around the clock, not just during business hours. We offer free confidential case consultations, and all cases are handled on contingency: no attorney fees unless we win.

Call our office at (888) 979-4941 to schedule a free consultation, or fill out our online form, and a member of our team can be in touch shortly.

Common Construction Accident Types in Orlando

OSHA identifies four categories of accidents responsible for the majority of construction fatalities nationwide: falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between accidents, and electrocution. These “Fatal Four” account for a disproportionate share of deaths on Florida job sites each year. The cause of the accident determines who bears liability, which is why understanding how each type occurs is central to building a claim.

Falls

Falls are the leading cause of death in construction. Workers six feet or more above lower levels face the highest risk, and failures in fall protection, guardrails, scaffolding, and ladder safety contribute to these incidents. A fall from elevation on a commercial site can cause traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, and fractures that permanently alter a worker’s ability to work.

Struck-By Incidents

Struck-by accidents occur when workers are hit by heavy equipment operating in tight quarters, by vehicles with limited visibility around the cab, or by falling objects from overhead work. Crane operations, concrete pours, and demolition work all create elevated struck-by risk.

Caught-In & Caught-Between Accidents

Workers can become trapped in trench collapses, crushed between heavy equipment and a fixed surface, or pulled into unguarded rotating machinery. These accidents often involve defective equipment guards or failures to follow lockout and tagout procedures before maintenance begins.

Electrocution

High-voltage exposure, contact between metal ladders or crane booms and overhead utility lines, stray wiring, and improperly grounded tools are common sources of electrocution on construction sites. Electrical injuries frequently involve both the immediate trauma and longer-term neurological effects that may not appear for weeks.

Additional Construction Accident Hazards

Beyond the Fatal Four, construction workers in Orlando face a range of other serious hazards.

Other common construction accident types include:

Scaffolding collapses caused by improper assembly, overloading, or defective components
Crane accidents involving equipment failure, load miscalculation, or operator error
Forklift accidents resulting from tip-overs, pedestrian strikes, or load failures
Chemical and asbestos exposure during demolition, renovation, or site preparation work
Defective tool and equipment failures that cause lacerations, crushing injuries, or amputations
Slip and fall incidents on debris-covered, wet, or unstable walking surfaces

Construction workers across every trade, including carpenters, electricians, plumbers, roofers, and ironworkers, encounter these hazards on Florida job sites. Injuries range from broken bones and lacerations to spinal cord damage, severe burns, and fatal injuries. The nature of the accident determines what evidence must be gathered, which safety standards apply, and which parties may share liability.

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Have Questions? GET ANSWERS

What types of damages can I claim?

In all cases, there are two general categories of damages – economic damages and non-economic damages. You can be compensated for both past and future economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages are things such as wage loss, mileage expense to go to doctor appointments, prescription costs, co-pays on insurance, over-the-counter medications, diminution in value to your car, etc. The other category is non-economic damages, which may include things such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, emotional distress, etc.
The non-economic damages are often greater than the economic damages if the injuries are significant enough. Consult with an attorney for a full explanation of these types of damages.
Are there deadlines for filing claims?

Yes. Under Florida law, there are very specific, detailed deadlines to file claims. If you do not meet these deadlines, you may be forever barred from bringing your claim forward.
These time restrictions are known as statutes of limitations, and they vary depending on the type of claim you are bringing. It is critical that you consult with an attorney as soon as possible after your incident so you can receive good legal advice on the time limits for filing a personal injury claim.
How can I recover lost wages?

Wage loss is paid out under your Personal Injury Protection benefit, which happens to be mandatory coverage for auto insurance in the State of Florida. There are exceptions, such as when you elected to have your wage loss reimbursement excluded on your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefit when you obtained your policy.
Normally, people who have their wage loss benefits excluded are those who are not employed for some reason or another. You can also elect to have a standard PIP (which covers wage loss at 60%) or extended PIP (which covers wage loss at 80%).
You will need to provide proof of income in the form of a paycheck stub, income tax return, or some other verifiable means. The remaining percentage of your wage loss not covered by your PIP insurance will become part of your claim against the defendant driver.
When cases do not involve PIP coverage, the wage loss becomes part of the demand to the at-fault party. In most cases, proof of lost income is rather simple if the injured person receives a paycheck. For our clients who are self-employed, we work very closely with them to help them assemble the necessary documentation to prove the wage loss claim. Tax returns can be helpful in instances where clients are self-employed.
How can I recover my out-of-pocket expenses?

Out-of-pocket expenses are always made part of your claim and are part of your economic damages that we seek to recover from the at-fault party. When your claim is presented to the at-fault party, we include your out-of-pocket expenses as part of the demand package.
If your case does not settle in what we call the "pre-suit phase," then your case will proceed to court where we will ask a jury for your out-of-pocket expenses as part of your economic damages on the verdict form.
Will my insurance premiums increase if I report an accident to my insurance company?

Your insurance premiums should not go up if you are not at fault for the accident. It will be part of your insurance record, but if you are not at fault, your premiums should not increase.
In most situations, your own insurance company will go after the insurance company that insures the at-fault party to recover the costs it may have paid to you for things such as car repairs or additional medical expenses.

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