Trench cave-ins. Excavation collapses. Missing shoring. Inadequate sloping or benching. Cubic-yard soil weighs roughly the same as a small car — a worker buried under two feet of soil cannot breathe and cannot dig out. Trench accidents are catastrophic. Industrial Code Rule 23-4 governs excavation safety in New York and is the primary vehicle under NY workplace-safety law(6).
Madison Law Firm PLLC · 579 5th Ave, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017
Site safety logs, OSHA accident reports, GC and sub-contract chain, fall-protection equipment (preserved), and witness statements from co-workers. Immigration status is NEVER discoverable.
Owner/GC carriers know is strict. We document the gravity-related elevation differential and the inadequate-or-missing safety device — and negotiate against $5M+ wrap-up policies.
construction-injury claims often go to summary judgment on liability. Then we try damages only. Powerful procedure when it applies.
Every case is different. The recoverable damages depend on your injuries, the insurance available, and the facts of your case.
OSHA requires protective systems (shoring, shielding, sloping) for any excavation 5 feet deep or more. Industrial Code Rule 23-4 has even more specific NY requirements. When the cave-in happens, it is almost always traceable to a violation — and a violation of the Industrial Code triggers (6) liability against the owner and GC.
You can collect Workers' Comp from your employer AND sue the property owner and general contractor under NY's scaffold law. Two recoveries from two different defendants. We handle both.
NY courts have ruled (Balbuena v. IDR Realty) that immigration status does not bar a construction-injury claim and is generally NOT discoverable. We protect that from day one.
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