Struck-by accidents are one of OSHA’s “Focus Four,” the four leading causes of construction worker deaths. Each year, hundreds of workers are killed and thousands more injured when they’re hit by falling objects, swinging loads, flying debris, or moving vehicles and equipment on Illinois job sites.
At Phillips Law Offices, we represent construction workers and families devastated by preventable struck-by accidents. Understanding these hazards, the safety violations that cause them, and how Illinois law treats a struck-by injury differently depending on who caused it is essential for protecting your legal rights.
The Fatal Four: Struck-By Hazards
OSHA tracks four hazard categories, known as the “Focus Four” (formerly the “Fatal Four”), that together account for more than 60% of all construction deaths nationally: falls (roughly a third of construction fatalities), struck-by incidents, electrocution, and caught-in/between accidents. Struck-by accidents rank second only to falls, and unlike falls, they are not limited to workers at height. A struck-by injury can happen to anyone on a site standing near a crane lift, walking behind a reversing skid steer, or working below an unsecured stack of lumber.
Eliminating struck-by hazards is not a matter of exotic engineering. Most of the violations behind these accidents involve equipment or protocols that already exist in OSHA’s construction standards, they simply were not followed. That gap between what the rules require and what actually happened on site is usually where a legal claim begins.
Types of Struck-By Accidents
OSHA classifies struck-by accidents into four categories, and the category often determines which safety standard was violated and who is likely responsible.
Struck-by falling objects happen when something drops from height onto a worker below. This includes tools dropped from scaffolds, ladders, or elevated work areas; materials falling during crane lifts or hoisting operations; debris falling through floor openings; improperly stacked materials that collapse; and bricks, lumber, or steel falling from upper floors.
Struck-by flying objects involve debris or fragments propelled through the air rather than simply dropping, such as debris from cutting, grinding, or drilling operations, nails ejected from pneumatic nail guns, fragments from struck materials, pieces thrown from power tools, and materials ejected by rotating equipment.
Struck-by swinging or slipping objects are usually tied to rigging and material handling: crane loads swinging out of control, materials slipping from forks or rigging, pipes or beams sliding off stacks, loads shifting during transport, and improperly secured items falling from conveyors.
Struck-by rolling or moving objects come from vehicles and mobile equipment, backing vehicles striking workers behind them, equipment running over workers standing in blind spots, rolling vehicles that were not properly secured, moving construction equipment in congested areas, and delivery trucks operating inside active work zones.
OSHA Standards for Struck-By Protection
Several OSHA standards address struck-by hazards directly, and a citation under any of them after your accident is strong evidence for a negligence claim. Head protection under 29 CFR 1926.100 requires workers to wear hard hats whenever there is a possible danger of head injury from impact, falling or flying objects, or electrical shock, a baseline requirement on virtually every active construction site. Falling object protection under 29 CFR 1926.501(c) requires employers to install toeboards, screens, or guardrails on elevated platforms, erect canopies over walkways and work areas, barricade zones where overhead work is occurring, and ensure materials are properly secured on elevated surfaces.
Crane and rigging operations fall under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC, which sets qualified-operator requirements, load capacity limits, rigging inspection requirements, swing-radius precautions, and communication protocols between operators and ground crews. Motor vehicle safety on site is governed by 29 CFR 1926.601 and 1926.602, which require backup alarms on certain equipment, clear lines of sight or the use of spotters, proper traffic control plans, and posted speed limits in active work zones. When any of these standards is violated and an accident follows, the violation itself becomes central evidence in both a workers’ compensation dispute over causation and any third-party negligence claim.
Common Struck-By Violations
Based on OSHA citation histories and accident investigations, certain violations show up again and again in struck-by cases: hard hats not required or not worn, missing toeboards on scaffolds and platforms, overhead work performed without barricades below, improper rigging that causes a load to drop, crane operation by workers who are not properly qualified, no spotter posted for backing vehicles, a lack of high-visibility clothing near moving equipment, tools not secured with lanyards at height, materials stacked or stored improperly, and no traffic control plan governing vehicle movement through the work zone. Any one of these, standing alone, can turn a routine task into a fatality. On a busy Chicago site with multiple subcontractors working simultaneously, several of these gaps often exist at once.
Injuries From Struck-By Accidents
The severity of a struck-by injury depends heavily on the weight, height, and speed involved, but even relatively minor-seeming impacts can cause lasting harm. Traumatic brain injuries occur even with a hard hat on, since a hard hat reduces impact force but does not eliminate it entirely. Skull fractures happen when falling objects penetrate or crush the head. Spinal cord injuries from impacts to the back can cause partial or complete paralysis. Crush injuries occur when heavy objects land directly on a worker’s body, and broken bones and internal organ damage follow from blunt-force impact to the torso or limbs. Eye injuries are common when flying debris strikes a worker without proper eye protection, and in the most severe cases, a limb caught under or severed by moving equipment results in amputation. Struck-by accidents are, unfortunately, frequently fatal, particularly when the object involved is a vehicle, a suspended load, or falls from significant height.
Workers’ Compensation and the Exclusive Remedy Rule
Under 820 ILCS 305/5(a), Illinois workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your own employer for an on-the-job injury, including a struck-by accident. That means you typically cannot sue your direct employer in civil court for negligence, even if a supervisor’s carelessness contributed to the accident. In exchange, you do not have to prove fault to receive benefits, medical treatment, temporary total disability payments, and permanent disability compensation are generally available regardless of whether your employer or a coworker made a mistake.
The exclusive remedy rule only bars claims against your direct employer, not against everyone else who may share responsibility. On a construction site, the entity that pays your paycheck is frequently not the only party whose negligence contributed to the accident, and Illinois law preserves your right to pursue those other parties separately.
Liability for Struck-By Accidents: Who Can Be Held Responsible
Multiple parties may share responsibility for a struck-by injury, and identifying all of them is often the difference between a workers’ comp claim alone and a workers’ comp claim paired with a much larger third-party recovery.
Your direct employer must provide personal protective equipment, implement safety protocols, and train workers on struck-by hazards, though as noted above, a claim against your own employer generally proceeds through workers’ comp rather than a lawsuit. General contractors controlling the job site are often responsible for overall site safety under OSHA’s multi-employer worksite doctrine, which holds a controlling or general contractor accountable for hazards it created or should have caught through reasonable site inspection, even when the injured worker is employed by a subcontractor. This doctrine is particularly relevant to struck-by accidents, since falling-object protection, crane swing-radius control, and vehicle traffic plans are typically coordinated at the general contractor level rather than by each individual subcontractor.
Crane and equipment operators who cause a struck-by accident through negligent operation, and their employers if that employer is not your own, can face direct liability. Equipment manufacturers may be liable under Illinois product liability law if a defect, such as a failed backup alarm, defective rigging hardware, or a crane component that failed under normal use, contributed to the accident. Property owners who retain control over site safety or who create a hazardous condition (an unsecured stack of building materials on a renovation project, for example) may also share liability depending on the degree of control they exercised.
Comparative Negligence and Shared Fault
Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence rule under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116. If you are found partly at fault for a struck-by accident, your recovery in a third-party civil claim is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you are barred from recovery entirely if you are found more than 50% at fault. Consider a hypothetical: a worker recovers a $600,000 jury verdict against a general contractor for failing to barricade an overhead work zone, but the jury also finds the worker 20% at fault for walking past a posted warning sign. Under the comparative negligence rule, the worker’s recovery is reduced by 20%, to $480,000. This example is illustrative only and does not represent an actual case result, actual outcomes depend entirely on the specific facts and evidence developed in each case.
When more than one defendant shares fault, 735 ILCS 5/2-1117 governs how liability is apportioned among them. For most compensatory damages, defendants found 25% or more at fault are jointly and severally liable, meaning the injured worker can recover the full judgment from any one of them, who then has a right of contribution against the others. This matters in multi-contractor struck-by cases where a general contractor, a crane operator’s employer, and an equipment manufacturer might all bear some responsibility, and where one defendant’s insurance may be more accessible than another’s.
The Workers’ Comp Lien on a Third-Party Recovery
If you pursue and win a third-party claim while also receiving workers’ compensation benefits, the comp carrier generally has a statutory lien against your third-party recovery under 820 ILCS 305/5(b), reimbursing itself for benefits already paid. Illinois’ common-fund doctrine typically reduces that lien by a proportional share of the attorney fees and costs that made the third-party recovery possible, so the carrier does not receive a full dollar-for-dollar reimbursement without contributing to the cost of obtaining the recovery. An attorney handling both claims together coordinates this lien resolution as part of the overall settlement or verdict, rather than leaving it as a surprise deduction at the end.
When a Struck-By Accident Is Fatal
Struck-by accidents involving suspended loads, crane failures, or vehicle strikes are frequently fatal. When a construction worker dies from a struck-by accident, the worker’s family may have a claim under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/1, in addition to workers’ compensation death benefits available through the employer’s comp carrier. These are separate legal tracks, comp death benefits do not require proving fault against a third party, while a wrongful death claim against a negligent general contractor, equipment operator, or manufacturer can recover damages, such as loss of the deceased worker’s future earnings and the family’s loss of companionship, that workers’ comp does not provide.
Preventing Struck-By Accidents
OSHA’s recommended preventive measures are not complicated, which is part of what makes so many struck-by accidents preventable. Workers should always wear required PPE, including hard hats and safety glasses, never stand under suspended loads, stay clear of equipment swing radii, wear high-visibility clothing near moving equipment, use tool lanyards when working at height, secure all materials on elevated surfaces, respect barricaded zones rather than treating them as inconvenient obstacles, and use spotters when operating equipment with known blind spots. When a site enforces these basics consistently, struck-by injuries become far less common. When it does not, the resulting accidents are rarely a matter of bad luck.
Preserving Evidence After a Struck-By Accident
Struck-by cases often turn on evidence that degrades or disappears quickly. Rigging hardware gets reused or discarded, crane load charts and daily inspection logs get overwritten, and witnesses who saw exactly how a load was secured move on to other job sites within weeks. If you are able, or if a family member or coworker can help, try to identify anyone who witnessed the accident and get their contact information before they scatter to other projects. Photograph the accident scene, the equipment involved, and any visible safety violations (missing barricades, absent spotters, unsecured stacked materials) before the site is cleaned up or altered. Request that your attorney send a preservation letter to the general contractor and any equipment operators promptly, since OSHA citation records, equipment maintenance logs, and crane inspection reports are far easier to obtain before they are routinely purged.
Mistakes That Can Weaken a Struck-By Claim
A few avoidable missteps show up repeatedly in struck-by cases and make them harder to win than they should be. Not reporting the accident in writing right away leaves the door open for an employer or insurer to later dispute exactly what happened. Accepting an early, informal explanation of fault, such as a supervisor’s assurance that “nobody could have prevented it,” without independent investigation can foreclose a legitimate third-party claim before it is even explored. Giving a recorded statement to an insurance adjuster before speaking with an attorney can lock in details that get used against you later, particularly around comparative fault. And returning to work or resuming normal activity before a treating physician has cleared you can be used by an insurer to argue the injury was less serious than claimed, even when that is not true.
A Hypothetical Illustration
Consider a hypothetical: a laborer is struck by a bundle of rebar that slips from an improperly rigged crane load on a downtown Chicago high-rise project. He receives workers’ compensation benefits from his direct employer, a steel subcontractor, for his injuries. Investigation reveals the general contractor failed to enforce its own rigging inspection protocol and had received a prior safety complaint about the same crane crew weeks earlier. His attorney pursues a third-party claim against the general contractor separate from the workers’ comp claim, while coordinating the comp carrier’s lien against any eventual third-party recovery. This example is illustrative only and does not represent an actual case result, the availability and value of any claim depends on the specific facts, evidence, and defenses in each individual case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get workers’ comp and also sue someone for a struck-by accident?
Yes, in many cases. Workers’ compensation from your employer and a third-party claim against a negligent general contractor, equipment operator, or manufacturer are separate legal tracks that can proceed at the same time, subject to the comp carrier’s lien against any third-party recovery.
What if I was not wearing my hard hat when I was struck?
Not wearing required PPE can factor into a comparative negligence analysis in a third-party claim, but it does not automatically bar recovery unless you are found more than 50% at fault, and it generally does not affect eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits, which do not require proving you were fault-free.
Who is liable if I was struck by equipment operated by a different subcontractor’s employee?
You may have a third-party claim against that equipment operator and their employer, since Illinois’ exclusive remedy rule under 820 ILCS 305/5(a) only bars a lawsuit against your own direct employer, not against other companies working on the same site.
How long do I have to file a claim after a struck-by accident?
Workers’ compensation claims generally must be reported within 45 days under 820 ILCS 305/6(c), while a third-party personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. These deadlines run separately and apply to different claims, so missing one does not necessarily affect the other, but both should be tracked closely from the date of the accident.
What if the crane or equipment involved was defective?
A defect in equipment, such as a failed backup alarm, faulty rigging hardware, or a component that failed under normal use, can support a product liability claim against the manufacturer, separate from and in addition to any claim against the general contractor or equipment operator.
Does OSHA investigate every struck-by accident?
OSHA investigates fatalities and certain serious injuries, but not every struck-by accident automatically triggers a full OSHA investigation. Regardless of whether OSHA opens a file, your attorney can independently investigate the accident, and any OSHA citations that are issued become important evidence if they exist.
Contact Phillips Law Offices After a Struck-By Accident
Struck-by accidents are preventable when employers, general contractors, and equipment operators follow the OSHA requirements that already exist for exactly this purpose. When safety failures cause injuries, negligent parties should be held accountable, not just for the injured worker’s sake but because it is what keeps the next crew safer. At Phillips Law Offices, we investigate struck-by accidents, identify every liable party, coordinate workers’ compensation and third-party claims together, and fight for the full compensation our clients deserve.
Call (312) 346-4262 or contact us online today for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’ll review your case, explain your legal options, and work to secure the compensation you deserve.
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