Falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between incidents, and electrocution are commonly known as the Fatal Four. OSHA addresses these major construction hazards through its Construction Focus Four training program. They can cause devastating injuries or death, leaving workers and families with questions about benefits, responsibility, and what happens next.

Pennsylvania’s private construction sector recorded 48 workplace fatalities in 2024, up from 30 in 2023. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 24 of those deaths. Construction also had the highest fatality count among the state’s private-industry sectors.

After a serious construction accident, an injured Pennsylvania worker may have workers’ compensation rights and, depending on the circumstances, a separate claim against another responsible party. Understanding these hazards and the available legal options can help workers protect their health and their claims.

Key Takeaways About Fatal Four Construction Accident Hazards in Pennsylvania

• The Fatal Four are falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between incidents, and electrocution.
• Falls, slips, and trips accounted for half of Pennsylvania’s private construction fatalities in 2024.
• These hazards can arise around elevated surfaces, moving equipment, falling materials, excavations, and energized electrical sources.
• Injured workers may qualify for workers’ compensation and, in some cases, pursue a separate third-party claim.
• Workers’ compensation notice and filing requirements differ from civil lawsuit deadlines.

What Are the Fatal Four Construction Hazards?

OSHA’s Construction Focus Four training addresses falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between incidents, and electrocution. Each presents a significant risk of serious or fatal workplace injuries.

A useful way to distinguish these construction hazards is to consider what happens to the worker:

• Fall: A worker falls from a roof, scaffold, ladder, platform, or another surface.
• Struck-by: A worker is hit by a vehicle, suspended load, falling material, tool, or other moving object.
• Caught-in or caught-between: A worker becomes trapped, pinned, or crushed by machinery, materials, structures, or collapsing earth.
• Electrocution: A worker dies from exposure to electrical energy. The same electrical hazards can also cause nonfatal shocks, burns, and other serious injuries.

Pennsylvania’s fatality statistics use broader Bureau of Labor Statistics event categories. Those categories should not be treated as identical to OSHA’s four hazards or as a ranking of all fatal and nonfatal construction accidents.

Why Are Falls a Leading Construction Safety Concern?

Falls stand out in Pennsylvania’s recent construction data. In 2024, falls, slips, and trips caused 24 of the state’s 48 private construction fatalities.

National data also show the importance of fall prevention. In a 2026 bulletin, NIOSH reported that construction workers accounted for approximately 46% of fatal occupational slips, trips, and falls across all industries in 2024. The bulletin identifies roofing, ladder work, and structural framing as activities associated with frequent fall incidents.

A fall can happen when a worker approaches an unprotected edge, steps into an opening, loses balance on a ladder, or works from an unstable surface. These incidents do not always involve a simple loss of footing; equipment failure or an unexpected movement can also contribute.

Under 29 C.F.R. § 1926.501, employers generally must provide fall protection for employees working on surfaces with unprotected sides or edges six feet or more above a lower level. Other requirements apply to particular tasks, equipment, and hazards, so six feet is not a universal threshold for every construction situation.

After a construction-site fall, worksite conditions may become important evidence. A ladder, missing guardrail, roof opening, scaffold, harness, or other equipment may be moved or altered once work resumes. Photos, witness accounts, inspection records, and safety documents can help establish what the area looked like when the accident occurred.

How Do Struck-By, Caught-In, and Electrical Accidents Happen?

The other Fatal Four hazards can arise during ordinary construction tasks, sometimes involving equipment or conditions outside a worker’s control.

Struck-by hazards include construction vehicles, suspended loads, falling materials, and equipment operating near workers on foot. A 2024 NIOSH bulletin identifies struck-by incidents as the leading cause of nonfatal construction injuries and the second most common cause of construction fatalities nationally. Roadway work presents additional risks because workers, construction equipment, and public traffic may operate close together.

Caught-in or caught-between hazards can arise around machinery, moving equipment, structural components, or excavations. OSHA’s excavation standard generally requires adequate protection against cave-ins. Exceptions include excavations made entirely in stable rock and excavations less than five feet deep when a competent person examines the ground and finds no indication of a potential cave-in.

Electrical hazards can involve overhead power lines, exposed circuits, damaged cords, energized equipment, or machinery contacting an electrical source. OSHA’s construction electrical standard requires employers to protect workers against electrical contact and determine whether work could bring people, tools, or machines into contact with energized circuits before work begins.

Pennsylvania has also seen enforcement involving several hazards at one worksite. In April 2025, OSHA announced citations against a Wilkes-Barre roofing contractor following an inspection at a Lackawanna County worksite. The agency cited two willful violations involving fall protection and personal protective equipment, along with 10 serious violations involving hazards such as energized circuits and improper ladder use. OSHA proposed a $467,000 penalty and added the company to its Severe Violators Enforcement Program.

An OSHA citation may provide useful information about worksite conditions, but it does not by itself establish civil liability.

Can Injured Construction Workers File Workers’ Comp Claims?

A Pennsylvania construction worker injured during covered employment may qualify for workers’ compensation, including medical and wage-loss benefits. The worker generally does not need to prove that the employer was negligent.

Prompt reporting matters. Under Section 311 of Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act, the general notice rules are:

• As soon as possible: Report the injury to your employer.
• Within 21 days: Unless the employer already knows about the injury, notice within this period generally preserves compensation from the injury date, subject to other eligibility requirements.
• After 21 days but within 120 days: Compensation generally begins when notice is provided.
• Beyond 120 days: Missing the notice deadline generally bars compensation unless the employer already knew about the injury or a different timing rule applies.

When a worker does not initially know about the injury or its possible connection to employment, the notice period generally begins when the worker knows—or reasonably should know—about both. This can matter for injuries that develop gradually or are not immediately recognized as work-related.

If an employer or insurer disputes the claim, the worker can file a claim petition through Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication. Under Section 315, the general filing period is three years from the injury—not three years from the denial. Exceptions can affect that deadline.

Workers’ compensation and civil lawsuits are separate legal paths. Receiving benefits does not automatically resolve whether another company may also be responsible.

When Can a Third Party Be Liable for a Construction Accident?

An injured worker may pursue a third-party claim when someone other than an employer protected by workers’ compensation immunity caused or contributed to the injury.

Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act generally makes workers’ compensation the exclusive remedy against a covered employer. However, Section 303(b), 77 P.S. § 481(b), allows an action against a responsible third party.

Construction projects often involve several businesses. Depending on the facts, a claim may involve another contractor, an equipment manufacturer, a property owner, or another party whose conduct or product contributed to the accident. Simply being involved in the project does not establish liability.

Pennsylvania’s statutory-employer doctrine can complicate claims against contractors. In Yoder v. McCarthy Construction, Inc., decided October 23, 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed that a qualifying statutory employer can be immune from an injured subcontractor employee’s negligence lawsuit even when it did not pay the worker’s compensation benefits. The Court sent the case back for further findings on whether the contractor qualified.

A worker therefore should not assume that a general contractor can automatically be sued because it oversaw the project. The companies involved, contractual relationships, worksite control, and other requirements must be examined.

What Evidence Helps Support a Construction Accident Claim?

Worksite photos, witness accounts, accident reports, medical records, and safety documents can all become important. Photos taken before the site is cleaned up or changed may be especially useful, provided they can be obtained safely.

Relevant evidence may include:

• Scene evidence: Photos, video, equipment positions, guardrails, scaffolding, ladders, excavation conditions, electrical sources, and warning signs.
• Witness information: Names and contact details for coworkers, supervisors, site managers, and others who saw the accident or earlier conditions.
• Worksite records: Accident reports, OSHA inspection materials, safety policies, training records, maintenance records, work orders, and project documents.
• Medical evidence: Treatment records, diagnostic testing, work restrictions, and documentation connecting the injury to the accident.
• Financial records: Wage information, missed-work documentation, medical expenses, and other injury-related costs.

After a fatal accident, family members may also need employment records and information about the companies working at the site. These details can help distinguish workers’ compensation death benefits from a possible third-party claim.

What Deadlines Apply After a Pennsylvania Construction Accident?

Pennsylvania generally has a two-year filing period for personal injury lawsuits under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. For an immediately apparent construction injury, that usually means two years from the accident. Exceptions can affect the deadline.

Workers’ compensation has separate notice and claim-petition requirements. Reporting an injury to an employer does not replace filing a civil lawsuit, and pursuing a lawsuit does not replace complying with workers’ compensation deadlines.

A fatal accident can also raise different timing questions involving workers’ compensation death benefits, wrongful-death claims, and survival claims. Section 315 generally provides three years from death for a workers’ compensation death-benefit claim, subject to exceptions. Civil claims require a separate deadline analysis.

How a Pennsylvania Construction Accident Lawyer Can Help

A Pennsylvania construction accident lawyer can help identify the available claims and determine which deadlines apply.

That review may include:

• Identifying the injured worker’s employer and employment status
• Reviewing workers’ compensation coverage and benefit disputes
• Determining which companies controlled relevant work or equipment
• Evaluating whether a contractor has statutory-employer immunity
• Preserving evidence and investigating a possible third-party claim

The appropriate legal path depends on the facts. A lawyer can help explain how workers’ compensation and a possible civil claim may apply to the same accident.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get workers’ comp if my employer calls me a 1099 contractor?

Possibly. Pennsylvania’s Construction Workplace Misclassification Act establishes specific requirements for independent-contractor status in construction. These include a written contract, freedom from control over the work, and an independently established business. Receiving a 1099 does not automatically make someone an independent contractor.

What if nobody saw my construction accident?

A claim does not necessarily fail because there was no eyewitness. Medical records, worksite photos, accident reports, equipment records, and other evidence may still help establish what happened.

Can I choose my own doctor after a construction injury in Pennsylvania?

If your employer properly establishes a provider list and meets the required notice rules, you generally must use a listed provider for 90 days from your first treatment visit. You may choose among the listed providers. If the employer does not meet those requirements, you generally may choose your own provider. Exceptions also apply.

What if workers’ comp stops paying for my medical treatment?

The appropriate response depends on the reason for the dispute. Questions about whether treatment is reasonable or necessary may go through utilization review. Other disputes may require proceedings before a workers’ compensation judge.

Do I need a lawyer if my workers’ comp claim was already accepted?

Not necessarily, but legal advice may become useful if treatment is disputed, benefits change, another company may be responsible, or the injury has lasting consequences.

Injured in a Construction Accident? Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law Can Help

A fall, struck-by accident, caught-in or caught-between incident, or electrical accident can cause serious injuries or death at a Pennsylvania construction site. Workers and families may face medical expenses, lost income, and uncertainty about their legal options.

Workers’ compensation may provide benefits. If another party contributed to the accident, a separate claim may also be possible. Brandon J. Broderick, Attorney at Law, can help you sort through the circumstances and understand where your claim may stand.

Want to know where you stand? Give our legal team a call (it is non-obligatory and free) and tell us what happened.