A subcontractor is an individual or a business that takes on a portion of a project from the principal contractor or another subcontractor. For instance, if a construction company is building a house and it does not have an electrician on staff, it might bring in an electrician as a subcontractor to wire the home.
Unfortunately, because subcontractors are not employees of the principal contractors or subcontractors that bring them onto projects when they are involved in a workplace accident, it can be difficult to assign responsibility.
While subcontractors are not an employee of the principal contractor or the other subcontractor that brought them onto the project, depending on the circumstances of the accident that led to their death, their family may be able to sue:
- The principal contractor
- Fellow subcontractors or employees
- Other construction site workers
- The construction site owner
- Equipment manufacturers
- The subcontractor’s employer
- The subcontractor’s supervisors
Recently, a subcontractor died in an accident while working on a project on Florida State University’s (FSU) campus in Tallahassee. According to WTXL TV, the victim worked for Miller’s Plumbing and was doing some work on a new residence hall site on Woodward Avenue before the accident happened.
The subcontractor was killed, according to FSU police, after becoming caught between a moving elevator and a building. He had already died by the time the police made it to the accident scene.
The FSU police were still investigating at the time of this report. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was also expected to investigate.
Who Can I Call If My Loved One Was Killed in a Construction Accident?
Colson Hicks Eidson has experience working on behalf of families who have lost loved ones in wrongful death accidents.
Colson Hicks Eidson – Injury Attorneys
Source: http://www.wtxl.com/news/subcontractor-dies-in-construction-accident-on-fsu-campus/article_03ea021e-16a5-11e4-8271-0017a43b2370.html