Construction workers in Pennsylvania know that their jobs can be dangerous. Accidents may not happen every day, but when they do, they can range from bumps and bruises to permanent disability to death.

In fact, if a visitor from another planet landed at the average construction site, it may conclude that the zone was designed to hurt injury. There is tall scaffolding, from which a worker might fall dozens of feet to the ground. There are pieces of heavy machinery that can crush someone. Beams and other objects can fall from above and hit workers below. Even hand tools and nails can cause injury.

Of course, a construction site is not supposed to be a house of horrors. But people can and do get seriously hurt there. If the injury is serious enough, the worker might have to take weeks or months off to recover. For seriously injured construction workers, workers’ compensation is a vital lifeline. For those who qualify, the benefits can help make up for the income the worker cannot earn, and pay for medical care they need.

Readers should know a construction worker’s employment status can make a difference about whether he or she qualifies for workers’ compensation. Often, employers try to claim that employees are not actually “employees,” but rather an independent contractor. This can be an important issue, but experienced workers’ comp attorneys know the factors that determine whether a worker is an employee or not.

A construction injury may only be the first step on a path through medical rehabilitation and recovery. An attorney can be a helpful guide down that road.