What to Do After a Construction Accident in Charleston
The cranes over the peninsula, the subdivisions going up past Summerville and the renovation crews in West Ashley all mean plenty of people working at height, near heavy machinery and in the heat. If you were hurt on one of those sites, get to the ER first.
Tell each doctor how it happened on the job, in detail, and keep going to therapy and follow-ups. Let your foreman or superintendent know about the injury right away, then send a text or email so the date is written down. A family member can do this if you can't.
If a coworker can photograph the ladder, scaffold, trench, guardrail or machine without breaking rules or getting hurt, those pictures help. Never go into a restricted area for them. Write down your crew, the other trades on site, the general contractor's superintendent and whoever was running equipment.
Your boots, harness, hard hat and tools belong in a bag at home, not the dumpster. Ask in writing that damaged equipment and site records be kept as they are. Hold on to time sheets, pay stubs and insurer forms, and many workers get a lawyer's view before signing any statement or release.
Workers' Comp Deadlines
Workers' compensation has its own rules for on-the-job injuries in South Carolina.1 Generally you must notify your employer within 90 days and file with the Workers' Compensation Commission within two years.4 Occupational diseases and injuries that build up over time can follow different timing rules.5 Report early instead of waiting for the deadline.3
See workers' comp in Charleston for more.
Claims Against Other Companies on the Site
Against a covered employer, workers' comp is generally the only remedy, with narrow exceptions.6 Say a crane's hydraulics or a nail gun's safety failed: the manufacturer may be a responsible third party you can pursue apart from comp.2
Not every company on a big job counts as an outside party. Under the statutory-employer rule, some companies higher up the chain can share the employer's protection from suit.67 Who can be sued turns on how the companies are related and what each was doing.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Two Claims, Two Clocks
Special rules and deadlines apply when pursuing both claims.2 Most South Carolina injury suits must be filed within three years, while comp claims generally must be filed within two years.84 The three-year date is for a lawsuit, and an insurance claim does not stop it.9
If a state or local government body is the outside party, a Tort Claims Act suit generally must be filed within two years, or three with a qualifying verified claim.10 Extra procedures and caps on damages may apply.11
Job sites anywhere in the state are covered on our South Carolina construction page.
Talk With Us About What Happened
Tell us what you were doing when it happened, and about the trade you've built with your hands. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston.
Our Charleston page on injuries from defective products covers equipment failures. Call us and describe the site, the companies on it and how you were hurt.
South Carolina Law on This
- Most injuries that happen on the job in South Carolina go through the workers' compensation system, which has its own rules, and usually limits suing your own employer.1
- In South Carolina, an employee injured at work may be able to receive workers' compensation benefits and also pursue a personal injury claim against a responsible third party, such as another driver. The workers' compensation insurer may have a right to reimbursement from any settlement or judgment. Special rules and deadlines apply when pursuing both claims.2
- An injured worker in South Carolina generally must tell the employer about a work accident right away, and no later than 90 days after it, to receive workers' compensation, unless an exception applies.3
- A South Carolina workers' compensation claim generally must be filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission within two years after the accident, or after a death it caused. Telling the employer does not count as filing. Occupational diseases and repetitive trauma follow different rules.4
- Different workers' compensation timing rules may apply to repetitive trauma injuries and occupational diseases that develop over time in South Carolina. The date a worker first experienced symptoms is not necessarily the date the filing deadline began.5
- Workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against a covered South Carolina employer for a qualifying workplace injury, although limited exceptions exist. South Carolina's statutory-employer doctrine can extend that immunity to some contractors or other businesses, so they are not automatically third parties simply because they are not the worker's direct employer.6
- Under South Carolina workers' compensation law, a business that hires a subcontractor to perform work that is part of the business's own trade or operations may be considered a statutory employer. When this rule applies, the business can be responsible for workers' compensation benefits for the subcontractor's employees, even though it did not hire them directly.7
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.8
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.9
- Lawsuits under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act generally must be filed within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered. A three-year deadline may apply if a qualifying verified claim was first filed under the Act.10
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.11
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I get three years for a construction injury?
Not on the workers' comp side. An injured worker generally must tell the employer no later than 90 days after a work accident, and file with the Workers' Compensation Commission within two years after the accident.34 A separate suit against an outside party generally has a three-year deadline.8 Timing is worth raising with a lawyer early.
I don't work on that site. Something fell on me as I walked past. What applies?
My foreman told me not to file. Now what?
Do I have to come to the King Street office?
No. A phone call is a fine start, and a spouse or coworker can make it. Our office is on King Street downtown if you'd like to meet. If travel is hard, we can come to you instead: the hospital, your home or wherever is easiest.
Sources
- S.C. Code § 42-1-540
- S.C. Code § 42-1-560
- S.C. Code § 42-15-20
- S.C. Code §§ 42-15-20 and 42-15-40
- S.C. Code § 42-15-40
- S.C. Code §§ 42-1-400, 42-1-540; Keene v. CNA Holdings, LLC, 436 S.C. 1, 870 S.E.2d 156 (2021)
- S.C. Code §§ 42-1-400 through 42-1-420; Keene v. CNA Holdings, LLC (S.C. 2021)
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-80 and 15-78-110
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
