What to Do After a Job-Site Injury in the Columbia Area
While you're in surgery or rehab, a spouse or someone from your crew can handle these.
- Get medical help first. Whether it's 911 from the site or a ride to Lexington Medical Center or Prisma Health Richland, describe the fall, strike or crush in detail, then keep going to rehab.
- Tell your employer. Report it to the foreman or supervisor as soon as you can, or have a family member do it. Send a text or email afterward so there's a dated record.
- Take photos only if it's safe and allowed. Scaffolds, ladders, trenches, guardrails and equipment can matter. Don't go into closed areas or move anything.
- Name the companies. Jot down your crew, the electricians, framers or other subs nearby, the GC's super and whoever ran the crane or lift.
- Keep damaged gear. Boots, harness, hard hat and tools. Ask that equipment and records be kept, not repaired or tossed.
- Hang on to proof of wages. Check stubs, hours logged in the company app, and whatever the comp carrier mails you.
- Don't rush any statement or release. Many workers speak with a lawyer first.
Building in the Midlands
There's a lot of building going on around Columbia: warehouses and plants along I-77 near Blythewood and along I-26 and I-20 in Lexington County, apartments and campus projects near USC and the Vista, and the long-running Carolina Crossroads interstate work around Malfunction Junction. Work zones put crews, heavy equipment and fast traffic close together.
Workers' Comp Time Limits
Most on-the-job injuries in South Carolina go through workers' compensation, which has its own rules.1 Notice to the employer is generally due within 90 days, and the claim with the Workers' Compensation Commission generally within two years.4 Occupational diseases and injuries that develop over time may follow different timing rules.5 Reporting right away beats waiting until the deadline is near.3 See Columbia workers' comp claims for more.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Suing Someone Besides Your Employer
Workers' comp is generally the exclusive remedy against a covered employer, with limited exceptions.6 A separate negligence or product claim may be possible against a third party, such as the maker of a lift that failed.2
Not every contractor on a job site counts as a third party. The statutory-employer doctrine can extend that immunity to some companies higher up the chain.67 On a big Midlands project with layers of subs, sorting out who is a true outsider takes a close look at the contracts.
A Personal Injury Claim Alongside Comp
A hurt worker may have both a workers' comp claim and, in some cases, a personal injury claim against a third party, each with its own rules.2 Most South Carolina personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years, while workers' compensation claims generally must be filed within two years.84 Opening a claim with an insurance company does not stop the statute of limitations from running.9
A claim against a state or local government entity generally must be filed within two years, or three years with a qualifying verified claim.10 Extra procedures and damage limits may apply there.11 The statewide construction accident page has more.
Talk With Us
Construction work builds skills that depend on your body. We want to hear what you were doing, how you got hurt and what work looks like for you now. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
Our office is on King Street in Charleston. We take cases across South Carolina, including Columbia, Lexington County and the rest of the Midlands. The first conversation can happen by phone.
When you call, the names on the trucks and the signs at the gate are a good place to start.
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 to file for a job-site injury?
I didn't work there. I was driving through a work zone when I got hurt. What then?
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.
