What to Do After a Construction Accident in South Carolina
Medical care comes first. While you're being treated, a coworker or relative can start on the list below.
- Get emergency care. Call 911 and get to the ER. Tell every doctor exactly how you were hurt on the site. Keep every follow-up and therapy appointment.
- Report the injury to your employer. Report it as soon as possible. Tell your foreman or supervisor, or have a family member do it, and follow up by text or email so there is a dated record.
- Document the scene when safe. If you or a coworker can safely and lawfully do so, photograph the equipment, scaffolding, ladders, trenches, guardrails and other conditions involved. Do not enter restricted areas, disturb equipment or put anyone at risk to get photographs.
- Write down who was there. Note your crew, other trades on site, the general contractor's superintendent and any equipment operators.
- Ask that evidence be preserved. Keep damaged boots, harnesses, hard hats and tools. Ask that potentially important equipment and records be preserved, not repaired or thrown out.
- Keep your paperwork. Save pay stubs, time sheets and any forms from the insurer.
- Take your time with statements and releases. Many workers talk to a lawyer before signing.
Workers' Comp Deadlines
Most injuries that happen on the job in South Carolina go through the workers' compensation system, which has its own rules.1 South Carolina workers generally must notify their employer of a workplace injury within 90 days and file a workers' compensation claim within two years.4 Different rules may apply to occupational diseases, certain injuries discovered later, and other special circumstances.5 Report the injury as soon as possible rather than waiting until the deadline approaches.3
Our page on workers' comp claims in South Carolina has more.
Can I Sue Someone Other Than My Employer?
Workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against a covered employer, although limited exceptions exist.6 An injured worker may sometimes pursue a separate negligence or product liability claim against a responsible third party, such as an equipment manufacturer.2
Not every contractor or subcontractor on a job site is a third party. South Carolina's statutory-employer doctrine can extend workers' compensation protection from lawsuits to certain companies higher up the chain.67 Whether a company on the site can be sued depends on how the companies are related and what each one was doing.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Can I Bring a Personal Injury Claim After a Construction Accident?
An injured construction worker may have a workers' compensation claim and, in some circumstances, a separate personal injury claim against a responsible third party. These claims follow different rules and deadlines.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 That three-year deadline is for filing a lawsuit, and an insurance claim does not stop it.9
Claims against South Carolina state or local government entities generally must be filed within two years, although a qualifying verified claim may extend the period to three years.10 Special procedural requirements and limits on damages may also apply.11
A lawyer can review the accident, identify potentially responsible parties, and explain the timing for each possible claim.
Talk With Us
We start by listening to what you were doing when you were hurt. Many people in construction have spent years building skills that depend on their body, and we want to understand that too. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us, and we talk with you honestly about your options.
The firm is based in Charleston and takes construction injury cases across South Carolina. If a tool or machine failed, see our page on defective product claims. Falls and crush injuries can be life-changing; see our page on catastrophic injury claims.
Tell us about the site, the companies working there and how you got 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
Is the deadline for a construction injury three years?
I wasn't working there. I was hurt walking or driving past a site. What then?
Workers' comp is the system for injuries on the job.1 Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.8 Claims against South Carolina state or local government entities generally must be filed within two years, although a qualifying verified claim may extend the period to three years.10
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.
