The variety and scope of dangers facing operating engineers on the job in Illinois and Indiana is amazingly great. Part of the reason is that many of these skilled workers are employed in some of the most dangerous industries in the country. Construction, for instance, is notorious for being high risk.
Accordingly, there are a huge number of safety regulations as well as industrial standards in place intended to protect operating engineers from being hurt on the job. All companies and individuals with any kind of possession, custody, or control of aspects of the worksite owe them legal duties of care.
This is not just safety duties placed on their employer. Work accident victims may be surprised to find out that their injuries were caused in part by all sorts of failures in responsibility. It is only after an extensive investigation by accident reconstruction experts that the true extent of legal culpability – and all those involved – may be revealed.
Wide Range of Risks and Corresponding Legal Safety Duties
Operating engineers are known for their expertise and how often they are able to jump from one piece of machinery or equipment or task to another. It is not only a measure of their talent but it is a welcomed asset to those powers-that-be trying to meet a project deadline.
Explains the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE):
Whether working as heavy equipment operators, mechanics, or surveyors, operating engineers can be found on any project using construction equipment. “Heavy equipment” is the blanket term for numerous types of machines: cranes, bulldozers, front end loaders, rollers, backhoes, graders, dredges, hoists, drills, pumps and compressors are just some of the equipment used by operating engineers. We are also called hoisting and portable engineers because the equipment we operate lifts and/or moves.
In most cases, if it can push, pull, pump or lift material, rolls on tires or crawls on tracks like a tank, it’s the work of IUOE. On virtually all construction projects, operating engineers are the first workers on the job and the last to leave. Our work is essential to a smooth-running construction project.
Although many members have a favorite type of machine to operate, operating engineers are masters of a variety of equipment. This versatility keeps us employable because employers’ needs vary from project to project.
Heavy equipment mechanics and surveyors also are very important contributors on any construction job. Mechanics repair and maintain the equipment used on the job, requiring a thorough knowledge of many types of equipment. Skilled mechanics are critical because if the equipment isn’t running when needed, an entire project can come to a screeching halt.
Surveyors use expertise in linear and angular measurements to lay out the geographical boundaries of a construction project. A surveyor must have a good command of advanced math principles because this type of work is extremely precise.
However, the greater the skill set, the higher the risk that the operating engineer may be injured. Different types of machinery and equipment mean different kinds of risks:
- Working on booms means the risk of falling from a height;
- Work with an excavator risks contact with buried power lines; and
- Uneven ground can cause rollovers or tipovers for an operating engineer in charge of a crane on a construction site, or a surveyor exposed to a serious fall caused by a hidden trench or failing walking surface.
Operating engineers face a tremendous risk of bodily harm, or even fatal injuries, in struck-by incidents; crushing accidents; falls (especially from a height); rollovers; tipovers; electrocution; burns (electricity, fires, toxins); hazardous material exposures (think silica or asbestos).
Safety Laws and Regulations
There are protections in place, of course. See OSHA Standard 1926.1402(b), for instance, which states “The equipment must not be assembled or used unless ground conditions are firm, drained, and graded to a sufficient extent so that, in conjunction (if necessary) with the use of supporting materials, the equipment manufacturer’s specifications for adequate support and degree of level of the equipment are met. The requirement for the ground to be drained does not apply to marshes/wetlands.” Violation of this safety regulation imperils a crane operator, especially on construction sites in Illinois or Indiana that may have changed suddenly with our extreme storms and weather conditions.
These safety protections are overseen in Illinois via the state plan Illinois OSHA, which operates under the Illinois Department of Labor and provides enforcement, training, and reporting for workplace injuries. Indiana’s state plan, Indiana IOSHA has its own safety orders, emphasis programs, and complaint process for workers in Indiana. For more, read Workplace Safety and OSHA Regulations in Indiana and Illinois.
Whenever a work accident involves an operating engineer in Indiana or Illinois, these legal duties will be compared to the event to determine what, if any, breaches in the legal safety duties were ignored or violated and contributed to the worker’s harm. Industrial standards may also be reviewed to form an argument that negligence has caused their injuries (see, for instance, the ASME / ANSI / ASME B30 series).
Worker’s Compensation versus Personal Injury Claims for Damages
Relief can come to the operating engineer hurt at work in more than one way. There can be worker’s compensation help. And there may be relief under civil legal claims asserted against third parties whose bad acts caused the work accident.
Workers’ Compensation
After any work accident in Illinois or Indiana, the injured worker will be able to file for worker’s compensation benefits under the state Workers’ Compensation laws. These are state statutes that require employers to buy liability insurance policies specifically to cover their employees’ work accidents.
The operating engineer hurt on the job files a claim for benefits without having to prove up fault. They are paid amounts established within the employer’s insurance policy and by state law. Relief for the worker victim and their family may be provided quickly – and that can be very important to those already suffering a life-altering event like this.
For more details, read: 10 Types of Workers Compensation Benefits After a Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana.
Civil Claims for Personal Injury Damages
However, if the operating engineer has suffered severe bodily injuries in the on-the-job accident, they may work with an experienced personal injury lawyer and assorted experts for their situation in order to find out if there are one or more third parties who are legally liable for civil injury damages because of a breach of legal safety duties.
Independently of any worker’s compensation coverage, the operating engineer harmed in a work accident may have legal rights to monetary damages in a civil claim based upon things like negligence, product liability, defective products, or premises liability laws.
Since the operating engineer’s scope of work is varied, the potential liability in these matters may also be varied. More than one company or individual may have done something, or failed to do something, that worked together into a perfect storm of events resulting in the work accident.
Each case is unique and deserving of individual investigation. Operating engineer accidents can be very complicated in legal liabilities. Third parties who may have legal liability after an operating engineer’s work accident will depend upon all sorts of details involved in the event itself. No one can know the full extent of the factual causation until after accident analysis experts finish their job and form their expert opinions.
Read: Five Key Differences Between Workers’ Compensation and Civil Claims After Work Accident; and Are There Civil Claims for Damages Against Third-Parties for Your Work Accident?
Potential Third-Party Liability to Operating Engineer for Work Injuries
Third party personal injury claims by an operating engineer hurt on the job in Illinois or Indiana may include companies or individuals. Findings may show fault with a single person or entity, or how several have shared legal blame. They include:
- Manufacturers of Equipment that failed or that did not have proper warning labels;
- Equipment Distributors, Sellers, or Lessors that provided defective equipment or failed to warn about hazards;
- Repair or Maintenance Companies that did shoddy work on the equipment or machinery involved in the work accident, or failed to identify dangers or skipped inspections that would have revealed a risk;
- General Contractor or Construction Project Managers that did not coordinate safety properly on the site; ignored safety hazards, especially weather risks after storms; or violated safety regulations promulgated by OSHA;
- Property or Site Owners, Lessors who did not warn of known premises hazards, hidden defects, etc.
- Engineers, Architects that certified unsafe equipment, machinery, or structures; inspected the site in a substandard manner; provided defective designs; provided bad load calculations; failed to consider stresses; etc.; and
- Safety Consultants or Safety Managers contracted to make sure the worksite is safe and failed to properly mandate safety measures and protocols; did not respond in a reasonable and prudent manner to weather risks; failed to meet contractual obligations to identify and meet hazard assessments.
A personal injury lawyer experienced in seeking justice for those hurt in serious work accidents can help the operating engineer decide how best to proceed. Help may be provided in both the filing of worker’s compensation benefits as well as in the investigation and demand for civil damage claims.
To learn more, read:
- Why a Lawyer who is a Trial Attorney Is Important for Accident Victims in Personal Injury Cases
- What is Industrial Hygiene? Expert Protection of Workers on the Industrial Worksite
- Accident Reconstruction Experts and Injury Claims.
Operating engineers work in some of the highest risk work environments in Illinois and Indiana. The danger they face of a catastrophic on the job injury is great. Please be careful out there!
