Washington's construction industry reported 6,700 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, at a rate of 3.6 cases per 100 full-time workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of those injuries and illnesses, 4,400 were severe enough to require days away from work or reduced duties.

Since construction sites can have multiple parties responsible for safety on a single job, when an accident happens, questions of liability and compensation types can become complicated. Freeman Law Firm helps injured construction workers throughout Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and the rest of Thurston County identify every responsible party and pursue all compensation available to them.

If you or a loved one was injured while working at an Olympia construction site, contact us today for a free consultation.

Establishing Fault from the Cause of Injury

Most construction site accidents in Olympia have one of a few common causes:

Falls: Scaffolding collapses, ladder failures, unprotected roof edges, and missing guardrails on elevated work platforms make falls the leading cause of serious construction injuries in Washington.
Falling/moving objects: Falling tools, dropped materials, swinging crane loads, and moving vehicles on the job site can all strike workers without warning.
Caught-in or caught-between accidents: Workers get pinned between equipment and fixed structures, caught in unguarded machinery, or crushed by collapsing materials.
Electrocutions: Contact with exposed wiring, damaged power tools, improperly grounded equipment, or overhead power lines can cause severe burns, cardiac arrest, and death.
Trench/excavation collapses: Improperly sloped or unshored trenches can collapse and cause crush injuries and suffocation.
Defective equipment: Tools, machinery, or safety gear that malfunction due to manufacturing defects or poor maintenance can injure workers even when proper procedures are followed.
Chemical and toxic exposure: Silica dust, asbestos in older buildings, lead paint, welding fumes, and chemical solvents can cause respiratory damage, chemical burns, and long-term illness when contractors fail to provide proper ventilation or protective equipment.

The cause of an injury indicates potentially responsible parties and sources of compensation. An electrocution from a faulty power tool can point to manufacturer fault, while a scaffolding collapse may be the fault of a subcontractor who erected it. Our Olympia construction accident attorneys establish the cause of injury by reviewing WISHA inspection reports, interviewing witnesses, examining equipment, and working with site safety experts who can reconstruct what happened and why.

Calculating Damages

The injury you suffered on an Olympia construction site determines what medical experts your case needs and how your damages are calculated. A traumatic brain injury requires neurological documentation, cognitive testing, and long-term care projections. A spinal cord injury requires vocational experts who can calculate reduced earning capacity over a lifetime. A crush injury or amputation requires prosthetic specialists and projected costs for replacement and rehabilitation over decades. Burns from electrical contact or equipment fires require specialists who can document skin grafts, revision surgeries, and ongoing care needs.

Damages in a construction accident case go beyond current medical bills. They include future medical care, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and the cost of accommodations you may need for the rest of your life. Our accident lawyers work with the medical and vocational experts your specific injury requires to document the full cost of what happened to you.

Who Can Be Held Liable for an Olympia Construction Accident

Once the cause of an Olympia construction accident is established, any of the following parties can be held liable:

General contractors: Oversee the entire project and are responsible for site-wide safety. If a hazard existed that the general contractor knew about or should have addressed, that contractor can be held liable.
Subcontractors: Electrical, plumbing, framing, roofing, and concrete subcontractors each control their own work area. A subcontractor whose crew created a hazard or failed to follow safety standards can be held liable for injuries that resulted.
Property owners and developers: Property owners can be liable for known hazards on the site, particularly during renovations where asbestos, lead paint, or structural defects exist.
Equipment manufacturers and rental companies: If a defective tool, machine, or piece of safety equipment caused your injury, the manufacturer or the company that supplied it can be held liable.

Our Olympia injury attorneys will review contractor agreements, safety logs, and job site records to determine who controlled the area where your accident happened, who was responsible for the condition that caused it, and what compensation each liable party owes.

Compensation Available After an Olympia Construction Site Accident

Workers' Compensation Through L&I

Workers' compensation in Washington is administered by the state Department of Labor and Industries, known as L&I. After an Olympia construction accident, your L&I claim covers medical treatment for your injury, a portion of your lost wages while you are off work, and benefits if your injury results in permanent impairment.

L&I claims have specific deadlines, documentation requirements, medical exam protocols, and appeal procedures that affect what you can recover. Our construction accident lawyers help injured workers at every stage of the L&I process:

Submit claims correctly and on time
Respond to claim denials
Appeal decisions that reduce or deny benefits
Coordinate medical documentation with your providers

L&I does not pay full lost wages, pain and suffering, or compensation for the changes the injury has made to your daily life. Washington's workers' comp is a no-fault system, which means you can collect benefits without proving anyone was negligent, but the benefits are capped in exchange. For a construction worker with a serious injury, those caps can leave a significant gap between what L&I pays and what the injury has cost in full. We pursue L&I benefits at the maximum allowed and identify whether additional sources of compensation exist beyond the state system.

Independent Medical Examinations

L&I may also schedule an independent medical examination, or IME, where a doctor selected by L&I evaluates your condition. IME results can directly affect your benefits, your impairment rating, and whether L&I considers you ready to return to work. Our Olympia construction accident team will review every IME report and challenge findings that do not accurately reflect the severity of your injury or your ability to return to construction work.

Third-Party Cases

When an Olympia construction site accident is caused by someone other than your direct employer, you can pursue a third-party case alongside your L&I claim. A third party in your case can be a subcontractor whose crew left a hazard on the site, a property owner who knew about a defect, an equipment manufacturer whose tool failed, or a driver who hit you in a work zone.

A third-party case lets you pursue damages that L&I does not pay: full lost wages, future earning capacity, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and compensation for permanent disability beyond the limited amount L&I pays. Our Olympia construction accident attorneys investigate every accident to determine whether a third party shares responsibility for what happened on the job site. Examples of third-party cases our team handles:

A roofing subcontractor whose worker dropped tools onto a crew below
A property owner who failed to disclose hidden electrical hazards in a renovation
An equipment manufacturer whose defective scaffolding caused a fall
A delivery driver whose negligence caused a struck-by injury on a job site

Third-party cases require coordinated work with your L&I claim because Washington law allows L&I to recover a portion of what you collect from the third party. Our attorneys handle that coordination so the timing of the two cases is managed correctly on your behalf and you do not pay back more to L&I than is required.

Coordinating Both Cases

Third-party cases require coordinated work with your L&I claim because Washington law allows L&I to recover a portion of what you collect from the third party. The amount L&I can recover depends on the total settlement or verdict, attorney fees, and litigation costs, and Freeman Law Firm will negotiate to reduce that amount so you keep as much of your recovery as possible.

Our construction accident attorneys manage both cases together from the start. We make sure your L&I benefits continue while your third-party case is pursued and structure the resolution of both cases to maximize what you recover from each source.

Working with Freeman Law Firm

Free Consultation

Your case starts with a free consultation where we review what happened on the job site and explain your options. We assess whether you have an L&I claim, a third-party case, or both, and explain what each one looks like for your specific situation. There is no obligation to hire us afterward.

Investigation and Evidence

Once you hire us, we secure evidence from the job site. We photograph the site, obtain copies of contracts between the parties on the job, and request contractor safety records from L&I. We also coordinate with your medical providers to make sure your injuries are documented in a way that supports your case.

Litigation

If a third-party case exists, we handle every part of the litigation:

Discovery: Exchanging documents and evidence with the opposing side
Depositions: Recorded interviews where witnesses and parties answer questions under oath
Expert testimony: Retaining specialists who can testify about the cause of your accident, the severity of your injuries, and the full cost of your damages
Settlement negotiation: Presenting your case to the opposing side and negotiating compensation on your behalf

Most Olympia construction accident cases resolve through settlement, but if adequate compensation cannot be reached through negotiation, we are prepared to take your case to trial.

Communication and Fees

You hear from us at every stage of the case, and no decisions about settlement or trial are made without your approval. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation in your case.

If you were hurt on a construction site in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, or elsewhere in Thurston County, our Olympia construction accident attorneys can review your case and explain every option available to you. Contact us today for a free consultation by calling (253) 383-4500.

Olympia Construction Accident Attorneys