What to Do After a Job-Site Injury Around Hilton Head
Get to the ER first. A coworker, your spouse or a parent can pick up the rest.
- Treatment. Call 911. When the doctors ask what happened, describe the ladder, the truss or the machine in detail, and keep every follow-up.
- Tell the boss. Report it to the foreman or superintendent as soon as you can, then send a text or email so there's a dated record.
- Pictures, only if safe. If you or a coworker can do it lawfully and without risk, photograph the scaffold, the guardrail, the trench or the lift. Don't go into a closed area for a photo.
- Who was on site. Your crew, the other trades, the general contractor's super, the operator on the lift.
- Broken gear. Hang on to the harness, boots, hard hat or tool, and ask that equipment and records be kept, not fixed or tossed.
- Pay records. Stubs, time sheets and any insurer forms.
- Hold off on signing. Many workers talk to a lawyer before giving a recorded statement or signing a release.
Where Builders Get Hurt in Southern Beaufort County
New subdivisions keep going up in Bluffton, Okatie and Hardeeville, and island homes and villas are always being rebuilt. That means roofers on steep pitches in July heat, framers on second-floor decks, crews building docks and bulkheads over tidal mud, and landscapers clearing storm damage. On I-95 near Hardeeville, widening work brings work zones and lane shifts.
Workers' Comp Timing
Most injuries that happen on the job in South Carolina go through the workers' compensation system, which has its own rules.1 Tell your employer right away and no later than 90 days after the accident, and file with the Commission within two years.4 Injuries and diseases that develop over time can follow different timing rules, and the date symptoms began is not necessarily when the clock started.5 Reporting early beats waiting.3 More is on our page about Hilton Head workers' comp claims.
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
Against a covered employer, workers' comp is generally the only remedy, with limited exceptions.6 A separate negligence or product claim against an outside party, such as an equipment maker, may still be possible.2
A different company on the same site isn't automatically an outside party. Under the statutory-employer doctrine, a business that hires a subcontractor for work that is part of its own trade may be treated as a statutory employer.7 That can extend the employer's protection from lawsuits up the chain.6 Sorting that out means looking at the contracts, the scope of each company's work and who directed what.
Time Limits for a Separate Claim
The comp claim and an outside claim follow different rules.2 Most South Carolina personal injury lawsuits must be filed within three years, while a workers' comp claim generally has two years.84 Negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.9 Tort Claims Act suits against a state or local government entity generally must be filed within two years, or three years after a qualifying verified claim.10 There could be caps on damages under the Act, depending on the facts.11
Talk With Us
Tell us what you were building and how it went wrong. People in the trades often rely on their bodies for a living, and we want to understand what this injury means for your work. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us, and we go over your options honestly.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Hilton Head, Bluffton and the rest of southern Beaufort County. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. See also South Carolina construction accident claims and defective tools and machines.
Call and tell us which companies were on that site.
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 have three years after falling off a roof in Bluffton?
I wasn't on the crew. I got hurt driving through a work zone. Which rules apply?
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.
