Get a Board-Certified Personal Injury Trial Attorney on your Crane Accident Case
Cranes are used regularly on industrial and construction sites to lift and move large and heavy materials. But while such cranes are essential tools in construction, they can also be deadly.
In crane accident cases involving multiple contractors and other negligent third parties, it is critical to talk to a crane accident lawyer as soon as possible so that all evidence at the scene is preserved to prevent any evidence tampering, destruction or testing without your knowledge or approval. In such cases a temporary restraining orders (TRO) and lawsuits and other legal motions may need to be immediately filed to protect the evidence.
Those responsible for such errors are negligent and must be held accountable in the crane accident lawsuit. Where do you begin? Victims of crane accidents can start by protecting their legal rights and pursuing a crane accident lawsuit for their losses by contacting an experienced crane accident injury lawyer with the Willis Law Firm.
We will help you file your workers compensation claim for benefits, collect all legal damages available to you in a crane accident lawsuit, including past and future pain and suffering, mental anguish, lost wages, loss of a loved one, loss of companionship and all other applicable legal remedies.
Talk to a Crane Accident Lawyer – Fill out the Online Form or call 1-800-883-9858
Most crane accidents occur during crane erection / assembly, materials or equipment falling on workers below, electrocutions and failures during dismantling of the mast or tower, cab, boom or jib. In any crane collapse, engineers and experts must study all aspects of the conditions that existed before and during the lift. Weights must be calculated, weather conditions analyzed, and lift plan studied.
Tower cranes by their very nature of being tall and carrying heavy loads above the workers at a construction site creates many scenarios for devastating accidents, with catastrophic injuries and deaths. Tower crane accidents often can be blamed on operator error and negligent rigging of materials to be lifted. When lifting these heavy loads over workers, there is no room for error.
When a crane accident occurs, experts and engineers are immediately brought in along with OSHA inspectors to determine the cause and determine fault. Often the OSHA accident report finds the accident was the fault of the construction company, supervisor, crane owner / operator in the assembly, location, dismantling, or improper rigging or due to the safety or lift plan not being followed.
Hundreds of construction workers and individuals have been killed and thousands seriously injured in tragic crane accidents across the nation. Almost weekly you can find new crane accidents on national news, on YouTube and on your local TV stations. Click below to view some of the biggest and most deadly crane accidents and collapses in the news.
Crane Accidents are Preventable!
"Recently we have seen a surge in serious injuries and deaths from crane accidents due to crane collapses, tip overs, overloading, falling equipment, dropped loads from poor rigging, working in high winds, electrocutions from contact with high voltage electrical lines, spills, injuries during erection or dismantling of the crane, falls, lack of inspections, mechanical failure, operator error and negligence and inadequately trained or certified crane operators.
Hopefully with further crane accident education of the dangers of cranes and riggings and more required training and certifications of crane operators, there will be fewer crane accidents in the future. Until then, we must hold the negligent parties accountable. If not, crane accidents will become more frequent and the toll of human lives and families will become intolerable."
David P. Willis - Attorney at Law
Featured Crane Accident Litigation
Crane Collapses & Tip-Overs Injuries and Deaths
A crane’s purpose is to lift heavy objects. Each crane has a specific weight limit to make sure it does not tip over or collapse. Cranes have out-riggers or counterweights to balance a load. But if weight limits are exceeded or other precautions are not taken, a crane can collapse, or tip over. A complete or partial crane collapse often occur with smaller, truck-mounted cranes, not just with tower cranes. But when a tower crane collapses, the destruction and loss of life can be devastating.
Accidents Due to Falling Loads During a Lift
Whenever a load becomes unsecured due to negligent rigging, windy conditions, inadequate training, or even operator error, bad results happen. It can fall or swing out of control and strike anyone its path. Whether the crane operator is lifting steel beams, pipes, rebar, precast concrete panels, cement, AC equipment, wall paneling, or thousands of other materials, if not properly rigged and strapped down, an unsecured is potential widow maker.
Crane Accidents During Erection & Dismantling
Other serious crane accidents can occur during erection or dismantling of the tower crane, boom, jib, turntable, cab or even the counterweights. Whether the crane is top climbing, guyed or braced or internal climbing, catastrophic crane tip-overs, collapses can occur. The industry has very clear standards and rules for these processes. When these standards and rules are not followed, a crane accidents, injuries and death occur.
Crane Accidents in Windy Conditions
Crane accidents involving high winds or bad weather can happen whether or not a crane is being operated at the time. But often a high wind can be catastrophic by affecting an operator’s use of a crane. In windy conditions an operator can lose control of a moving crane, especially if it is a large surface area to catch the wind like a sail. Such a wind force also may overcome the crane’s swing brakes and the plugging resistance of the crane’s swing motors. In windy conditions, the crane may need to be temporarily taken out of service and wait out the storm, but often, the work continues.
Mobile Crane Accidents
Crane accidents also can occur with mobile cranes mounted atop rubber-tired carriers, trucks or crawlers or traveling on steel tracks. With a boom for raising or lowering objects, such cranes can be more readily transported from one place to another on a construction site and also can rotate 360 degrees. But mobile crane accidents are common, in part because, working often on unlevel grounds, near cellar walls and slopes, bad placement of outriggers, overloaded lifts and poor positioning of the crane. Additionally, many mobile crane operators lack the years of training needed in complex lifts of irregular shapes materials, and especially when attempting two and three crane lifts.
Map of Former Willis Law Firm Clients over last 37+ years
Why Hire Us?
If you’ve been seriously injured or a loved one has killed due to a crane accident, rest assured that you can speak to a Crane Accident Attorney at our law firm with over 37 years of accident litigation experience.
- Our law firm handles serious injury and death across the nation, and we front all expenses.
- We find, collect, and preserve the critical evidence.
- We assist the injured worker in filing a worker’s compensation claim and any disability insurance that may apply. We will make sure the clients “workers comp claim” is timely filed and access to quality doctors and any needed rehab.
- We hire top crane accident experts to support your case. Our engineers and investigators will inspect the crane and crane accident site and will collect evidence, interview witnesses, and gather information to substantiate your claim.
- Once the post-accident investigation is complete and experts consulted, our legal team with file a crane accident lawsuit against all negligent and grossly negligent entities in the best venue possible for our clients and work hard to push case to trial.
- Call us today and learn what legal options you may have.
About the Crane Accident Lawyers
Nationally recognized Houston Industrial Accident Lawyer David P. Willis and other attorneys are ready to assist you in your injury lawsuit. Headquartered for decades in Houston, Texas, the lawyers at the Willis Firm have settled $100,000,000’s worth of injury lawsuits involving crane accidents, contractor liability, negligent conduct, product defects, and thousands cases of other serious injury and wrongful deaths.
Willis is a former attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas (1983-1984) and has been Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1988. In many wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases, Willis will assemble a team of other litigation attorneys, and Board-Certified Attorneys to assist in all phases of your case at no extra charge to you.
All accident cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, which means no fees or expenses ever are charged to the client unless the client wins. We will never send you a bill or ever require you to pay any expenses along the way. The law firm does not get paid any fees or expenses, unless you win.
Filing a Crane Accident or Crane Collapse Lawsuit requires lawyers with heavy litigation and catastrophic accident experience in pursue a case against the crane companies, construction companies and all other responsible and negligent third party contractors, safety officers and in some instances, the actual employer of the injured employee.
Talk to a Crane Accident Attorney – Free Case Review
If you have been seriously injured or a loved one killed in a crane accident, you may have grounds for an injury lawsuit against the crane owner, operator, contractors, and other negligent parties. In such a lawsuit we will demand compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and pain, disfigurement, and suffering and other losses due to a crane accident.
To learn your legal rights regarding a crane accident, call our law firm today for a free and confidential legal review of your crane accident lawsuit or claim. Talk to a Board-Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer with 37+ years of injury litigation experience and learn to what extent you may be legally entitled to payments for your injury losses.