Construction Accidents

Winston-Salem is in the middle of one of the busiest construction booms in its history. Innovation Quarter Phase II is adding 28 acres of new clinical, lab, office, retail, and residential space across the highway.

The downtown amphitheater is rising between the Benton Convention Center and First Baptist Church. With all that work comes risk—and far too many Winston-Salem construction workers pay the price.

If you or someone you love was hurt on the job at a construction site anywhere in or around Winston-Salem, Lewis & Keller Injury Lawyers can help fight for everything you’ve lost. Reach out today for a free consultation.

How Dangerous Is Construction Work in North Carolina?

Construction is one of the deadliest industries in the country, and North Carolina is no exception.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction sector had the highest number of fatalities of any industry in North Carolina in 2024, accounting for 36 worker deaths. Significantly, 14 of those fatalities were caused by falls, slips, and trips, while specialty trade contractors (such as electricians, roofers, ironworkers, and the like) accounted for 22 of those deaths.

Those numbers reflect only the workers killed on the job. Thousands more are injured each year—many with the kind of catastrophic harm that ends careers, drains savings, and reshapes lives.

Common Types of Winston-Salem Construction Accidents

We frequently handle cases involving:

• Scaffold Accidents: Collapsing scaffolds, missing guardrails, improperly assembled platforms, and unsecured planks
• Falls From Heights: Roof falls, ladder falls, falls through unguarded floor openings, and falls from elevated work platforms
• Crane Accidents: Tower crane collapses, dropped loads, swing-radius strikes, and rigging failures
• Trench and Excavation Accidents: Cave-ins, collapses, and trench wall failures, often when protective shoring or sloping was skipped
• Electrical Accidents (Electrocutions): Contact with overhead power lines, exposed wiring, energized equipment, and improperly grounded tools
• Construction Equipment Accidents: Forklifts, skid steers, loaders, dump trucks, backhoes, and other heavy equipment that can cause crush injuries, rollovers, and runovers
• Ironworker and Welding Accidents: Falls from steel, dropped beams, weld flash burns, fume exposure, and arc strikes during structural steel work
• Being Struck by Falling or Moving Objects: Tools, debris, lumber, and materials falling from upper floors, along with swinging beams, machinery, and vehicles
• Burn Injuries: Caused by chemical exposure, electrical contact, hot equipment, fuel and gas fires, and flash burns from welding and cutting operations
• Caught-Between Injuries: Workers caught between vehicles and walls, between equipment and structures, or between moving parts of machinery
• Hydraulic and Compression Equipment Accidents: Press equipment, hydraulic rams, concrete pumps, and powered machinery that compresses workers’ bodies or limbs
• Equipment Rollovers: Skid steers, telehandlers, and other equipment tipping on uneven terrain or unstable surfaces
• Building and Structural Collapses: Caused by premature removal of formwork, overloaded floors or scaffolds, inadequate temporary supports, foundation failures, and defective design or materials
• Superintendent and Site Management Negligence: Including unsafe sequencing, ignored hazard reports, missing fall protection plans, and refusal to halt work despite obvious dangers
• General Construction Accidents: From puncture wounds, tool injuries, and chemical exposure to repetitive stress and overexertion injuries
• Wrongful Death: Catastrophic incidents that take a worker’s life, leaving spouses, children, and parents to navigate enormous financial and emotional loss

Common Construction Injuries

Construction injuries are often catastrophic, with consequences that can last a lifetime. They include:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and severe concussions
• Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) and paralysis
• Crushed limbs and amputations
• Multiple broken bones and fractures
• Internal organ damage and internal bleeding
• Severe burns from chemical, electrical, fuel, or arc sources
• Eye injuries and vision loss
• Hearing loss from prolonged exposure or sudden trauma
• Respiratory illnesses from silica, asbestos, lead, or chemical fume exposure
• Disfiguring lacerations and permanent scarring
• Wrongful death

Workers’ Compensation vs. Third-Party Claims

Most North Carolina construction workers injured on the job are covered by their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance through the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, meaning you don’t have to prove your employer did anything wrong—but it also limits what you can recover.

Workers’ compensation in North Carolina generally covers:

• Medical expenses for the treatment of your injury
• A portion of your lost wages while you’re unable to work (generally two-thirds)
• Permanent disability benefits when applicable
• Vocational rehabilitation when injuries prevent you from returning to your previous job
• Death benefits for surviving family members in fatal cases

Workers’ compensation does not cover the full picture: pain and suffering, the full extent of lost wages, and other non-economic losses that often dwarf medical bills. That’s where third-party claims come in.

When someone other than your direct employer contributed to your injury—a general contractor, subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, property owner, architect, engineer, or another company on the site—you may be able to bring a separate personal injury lawsuit against that party on top of your workers’ compensation claim.

Third-party claims can recover the full range of damages, and in catastrophic injury cases, they can make a significant difference in a victim’s long-term financial recovery. Identifying every potentially liable party is one of the most important steps in any serious construction injury case.

Compensation Available to Winston-Salem Construction Accident Victims

Depending on the type of claim, the compensation available may include:

• Medical Expenses: Past, current, and future medical bills, including surgeries, hospital stays, prescriptions, physical therapy, and specialist care
• Lost Wages: Income lost while you’re unable to work
• Disability Benefits: Through workers’ compensation when injuries prevent you from returning to your previous job
• Rehabilitation Costs: Including physical therapy, occupational therapy, vocational retraining, and psychological counseling
• Home and Vehicle Modifications: Wheelchair ramps, widened doorways, accessible bathrooms, and adaptive driving controls
• Pain and Suffering: Available through third-party claims, covering the physical pain and lasting harm caused by the injury
• Mental Anguish and Emotional Distress: Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other psychological consequences of a serious injury
• Death Benefits: Through workers’ compensation, providing payments and burial expenses to surviving family members
• Wrongful Death Damages: Through third-party claims, covering funeral costs, lost financial support, and the immeasurable loss of a loved one’s presence

What to Do After a Construction Accident in Winston-Salem

1. Get medical care immediately. Even if you feel okay, adrenaline routinely masks serious injuries. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center serves as the region’s Level I Trauma Center for the most serious cases. Other major emergency facilities include Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center and Novant Health Medical Park Hospital.
2. Report the injury to your employer in writing as soon as possible. North Carolina workers’ comp requires written notice within 30 days. Doing this earlier is always better.
3. Document the scene. Photograph or take videos of the area, the equipment involved, any defects or hazards, and your visible injuries. Note the time of day and what you were doing when the incident occurred, as well as any relevant details like weather conditions.
4. Identify witnesses and collect their contact information. Coworkers’ memories fade fast, and some may move on to other projects.
5. File a workers’ compensation claim. You can do this through your employer or directly with the North Carolina Industrial Commission.
6. Preserve physical evidence, including damaged equipment, defective tools, your clothing, and any safety gear that failed.
7. Avoid recorded statements to insurance adjusters before talking to an attorney.
8. Contact a Winston-Salem construction accident attorney. An experienced lawyer can help you explore both your workers’ compensation rights and any potential third-party claims.

Why Choose Lewis & Keller for Your Winston-Salem Construction Accident Case

When you hire Lewis & Keller Injury Lawyers, our team gets to work right away on the kind of comprehensive investigation these cases demand:

• Inspecting Job Sites: We can investigate the job site, including photographing and documenting conditions, equipment, and hazards before anything is cleaned up, repaired, or moved.
• Interviewing Witnesses: We can track down and interview coworkers, supervisors, subcontractors, and other witnesses while their memories are still fresh and before they move on to other projects.
• Examining Incident Reports: We obtain and analyze accident reports, internal company documents, daily logs, safety meeting records, and any reports filed by the general contractor or site supervisor.
• Analyzing OSHA Findings: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency responsible for setting and enforcing workplace safety standards. In North Carolina, safety standards are enforced by the state-run North Carolina Department of Labor’s (NCDOL) Occupational Safety and Health Division. When a serious construction injury or fatality triggers an inspection, the findings can be tremendously valuable to your case.
• Gathering Medical Records: We gather the full body of medical evidence—emergency room records, imaging, surgical reports, physical therapy notes, and physician opinions—to document the full extent of your injuries.
• Verifying the Impact on Your Income: We obtain payroll records, tax filings, and employer documentation to accurately calculate your current and future lost wages and earning capacity.
• Consulting With Experts: We work with the right experts for your case, including construction safety specialists, accident reconstructionists, biomechanical engineers, vocational rehabilitation experts, life-care planners, and economists who can quantify the long-term cost of your injury.

We also work on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no upfront costs, and you pay us nothing if you don’t get compensation. If we win for you, we take a percentage of the recovery as our fee.

Contact Our Winston-Salem Construction Accident Attorneys

A serious construction injury can put your future in jeopardy. The physical, emotional, and financial toll of a construction site injury can impact your family for months, years, or even a lifetime. Navigating the complex North Carolina workers’ compensation system while recovering from severe injuries—like falls, machinery malfunctions, or scaffolding collapses—is an overwhelming burden to carry alone. Ensuring you secure every dollar you deserve requires an aggressive, experienced legal strategy tailored to North Carolina’s strict workplace injury laws.

We make getting the help you deserve easy: we offer a completely free, no-obligation case review, and we work on a contingency-fee basis, meaning you pay absolutely nothing upfront and no legal fees unless we win your case.

You deserve a legal team that will hold negligent parties accountable and fight for your rights. Reach out to the workers’ compensation lawyers at Lewis & Keller Injury Lawyers today for a free, confidential consultation.