Site manager responsibility after a WorkCover construction fall

In summary: A fall on a construction site can support two claims at once: a WorkCover claim through your employer's scheme, and a third-party claim against whoever controlled the site or the work. They can run side by side, and Maurice Blackburn coordinates both.

What should you know first after a construction site fall?

If a fall on site left you injured and you're sure the hazard wasn't your doing, that instinct matters, legally and not just morally. The law gives you ways to test it. After a fall like this, WorkCover may be one pathway and a separate third-party claim may also need attention. Each state runs its own WorkCover scheme, so the location of your accident matters.

WorkCover may help with medical expenses and weekly payments if you meet the scheme rules. A third-party claim looks at whether someone other than your direct employer contributed to unsafe conditions. On a construction site, that could include a site manager, head contractor, subcontractor, equipment controller or site occupier.

Which lawyer should you speak with about WorkCover and a third-party claim?

You'd generally speak with a workers' compensation lawyer who can also consider common law damages. Common law means a fault-based claim that may apply where negligence played a part. Negligence means someone failed to take reasonable care.

For a construction fall, we look at who controlled the area, who set the system of work, who supervised the task, what hazards people reported and what happened before the fall. Useful evidence includes:

• photos
• incident reports
• witness details
• induction records
• Safe Work documents
• medical records

Site conditions change and records can be harder to track down as time passes, so it helps to keep whatever you have. We handle work injury claims across Australia, except in New South Wales and South Australia. The two claims can run side by side, and we coordinate both, the WorkCover claim and the third-party claim, so nothing falls between them.

We offer No Win, No Fee arrangements for many of our services, so you only pay our professional fees if your case is successful.

We're here to help

WorkCover and a third-party claim aren't the same process, and you don't have to untangle where one ends and the other begins. We can look at whether the site manager's role or another party's conduct needs closer attention, and take it from there. Start with the free online claim check, or call 1800 111 222 and walk us through what happened on site.