Primary Location
Torrance Personal Injury Lawyers
2916 W 164th St Second Floor, Torrance, CA 90504
Phone: (424) 622-0812
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Call us at (855) 855-8910
In Phoenix, crane accidents on construction sites cause some of the worst injuries workers face. The city keeps growing. Cranes run nonstop across downtown, Midtown, and along the I-17 corridor. When something goes wrong 200 feet in the air, people get hurt badly.
We handle these cases. Here are the crane accidents we see most often in the Phoenix metro.
Something most people outside the industry don't think about: Phoenix heat warps metal and dries out hydraulic seals faster than anywhere else in the country. And then monsoon season hits. Sudden 60 mph gusts blow through downtown with almost no warning. Cranes dot the skyline from Roosevelt Row all the way up to Deer Valley, and every single one of them is fighting those conditions.
Many of the site-safety failures that cause crane collapses — missed inspections, overloaded rigging, untrained operators — also show up in scaffolding collapse cases, where the same OSHA violations drive liability.
Workers hurt in crane incidents face injuries that change everything. Some of these injuries don't get better. If you were recently involved in a crane accident, you need to understand what you are up against before the insurance company starts telling you otherwise.
A hard hat only does so much. When the boom swings into a worker, or a falling object hits someone from 10 stories up, the result is traumatic brain injury. Lasting cognitive damage. Memory problems. Personality changes. These cases are complicated because the symptoms show up slowly.
Crane collapses pin workers under steel and concrete. Spinal cord damage from that kind of compression leads to partial or full paralysis. Our attorneys recovered $500,000 for a worker who suffered a spinal fracture and paralysis after a fall on a job site, and that was a relatively straightforward case compared to what a full crane collapse does.
When a dropped load lands on a hand or a foot, the damage is often beyond repair. Crush injuries lead to amputations. We see this with rigging failures more than anything else.
Burns from power-line electrocution go deep. They damage internal organs, destroy nerve endings, and leave scars that require years of treatment. Recovery in Arizona is harder because the summer heat makes wound care a constant battle. Medical costs climb fast.
Broken bones and internal organ damage show up in almost every crane accident we review. Multiple fractures that need surgical pins, plates, and months of physical therapy.
And then there is wrongful death. When a crane accident kills a worker, the family loses a provider, a parent, a spouse. The financial hit comes on top of grief that never fully goes away.
Document every injury from day one. Insurance adjusters will try to argue your injuries are not that serious. Proving them wrong starts with your medical records and photos taken at the scene.
When a rigger or ground worker doesn't survive a crane collapse, the case shifts into fatal job-site claims where Arizona's wrongful death statute controls who can recover and what damages are available.
Figuring out who pays after a crane accident takes work. Phoenix construction sites involve five, ten, sometimes fifteen different companies. More than one of them usually shares fault, which is actually good news for you. More liable parties means more insurance policies and more money available.
So who can you go after?
OSHA violations are powerful evidence. When OSHA cites a contractor for breaking crane safety rules under 29 CFR Part 1926 Subpart CC, that citation becomes a weapon in your case. It proves the contractor knew the rules and broke them anyway [1].
Arizona is a pure comparative fault state under A.R.S. 12-2505 [2]. Even if you were partly at fault, you still recover damages. Your award gets reduced by your share of blame, but you do not lose the right to file.
Big projects near Central Avenue and around Sky Harbor pull in dozens of contractors. The liability chains on those jobs are tangled. Sorting them out is a crane accident attorney's job, not yours.
Here is what catches people off guard about crane injuries in Arizona. Workers' comp is only half the story. And it is the smaller half.
Arizona workers' comp covers your medical bills and part of your lost wages. No fault required. But it does not cover pain and suffering. It does not pay your full salary. And for a crane injury that leaves you unable to work for six months or permanently, that gap is enormous.
A third-party personal injury claim closes the gap. You bring this claim against anyone other than your employer who contributed to the accident. The crane rental outfit. The manufacturer. A careless subcontractor. The property owner who ignored a known hazard. These claims pay pain and suffering, full lost wages, future medical care, and lost earning capacity.
Product liability gives you another path. If the crane had a manufacturing defect or a design problem, Arizona allows strict liability claims. You do not need to prove the manufacturer was negligent. You just need to show the product was defective and caused your injury.
Keep these deadlines in mind:
A crane accident lawyer looks at both tracks together so nothing falls through the cracks. The ICA office in downtown Phoenix handles workers' comp disputes for the entire metro area.
Crane collapses are only one slice of our broader Phoenix construction accident work, and the third-party liability theories we use here — against rental companies, subs, and equipment manufacturers — apply across almost every site we investigate.
The first 48 hours after a crane accident set the tone for everything that follows. What you do now, this week, directly affects how much compensation you can recover later.
First thing: tell your employer you were hurt. Arizona law requires prompt notice. Get it in writing. Ask for the incident report. If they drag their feet, follow up in writing too.
Get to a hospital. Even if you walked away from the site on your own two feet, go. Adrenaline hides fractures, internal bleeding, and head injuries. Banner University Medical Center and St. Joseph's Hospital are the Level 1 trauma centers closest to most Phoenix construction zones. Go to one of them.
While you are still at the scene or as soon as you can, take photos. The crane. The debris field. Your injuries. The weather. The rigging. Anything you can capture on your phone with a timestamp.
Save your hard hat. Your gloves. Your boots. Your vest. All of it. Do not wash anything. Do not throw anything out. That gear is evidence.
Ask for the crane inspection log, the lift plan, and the operator certifications. You have a right to this information. Ask before the contractor has time to lose the paperwork.
Insurance adjusters will call you fast. Do not give them a recorded statement. They are trained to get you to say something that hurts your case. Politely refuse and tell them to call your lawyer.
Before you sign any document from anyone, call a Phoenix crane accident attorney. Early settlement offers from insurance companies are lowball numbers designed to close your case before you know what your injuries are really worth.
If your accident happened during monsoon season, save weather data. Wind speed readings, National Weather Service alerts, storm timing. That information proves whether the crane should have been shut down. Both Phoenix PD and OSHA Region 9 investigate serious crane incidents, and their reports go straight into the evidence file.
Our attorneys have recovered significant compensation for construction workers across our practice areas. Here are three results from our construction accident cases.
$20.5 million verdict - A construction worker was electrocuted on the job, suffering high-voltage burns across his body and losing his hand to amputation. Our legal team investigated the equipment, identified the responsible parties, and took the case to trial. The jury returned a $20.5 million verdict.
$3.6 million settlement - A worker fell from scaffolding on a construction site and was badly hurt. The defense argued our client was not actually an employee. Our attorneys proved otherwise and negotiated a $3.6 million settlement.
$500,000 settlement - Our client was trimming trees on a job site when he fell, fracturing his spine. The injury left him paralyzed. We pursued the responsible parties and secured $500,000 for his medical care and lost income.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
After you hire a crane accident attorney, here is what actually happens behind the scenes. Most of this work is invisible to clients, but it is what makes or breaks the case.
We start with the scene. Our team gets to the site, documents everything, and in some cases files a temporary restraining order to stop the construction company from moving or destroying the crane. Evidence disappears fast on active construction sites.
OSHA inspection reports come next. We pull the contractor's violation history going back years. A pattern of safety shortcuts tells a story that juries understand.
We bring in crane engineering experts. They examine the wreckage and figure out exactly what failed. Overloading? Hydraulic failure? Ground conditions? Bad maintenance? The expert pins down the cause and can testify at trial.
Then we dig into the paperwork. Maintenance logs. Inspection records. Lift plans. Operator certifications. If the crane operator was not properly certified under OSHA's 2025 updated standards, or the crane missed a required inspection, those gaps prove negligence.
Calculating damages is where medical experts and economists come in. Current medical bills are just the start. We project future surgeries, physical therapy, lost earning potential over a lifetime, and the dollar value of your pain and suffering.
Most crane accident cases settle. We negotiate hard with the insurance companies, and Phoenix construction firms typically carry large commercial policies, so there is real money on the table. But if the insurer plays games, we file in Maricopa County Superior Court and go to trial.
The Simon Law Group brings over 250 years of combined legal experience and has recovered more than $600 million for clients. We handle the complexity so you can focus on healing.
Sources:
[1] OSHA - Cranes & Derricks in Construction Overview
[2] Arizona Revised Statutes 12-2505 - Comparative Negligence
[3] Industrial Commission of Arizona - Injured Worker Resources
Our Phoenix office has recovered over $600 million for families hurt in every type of Phoenix injury claim, and crane accidents are some of the most technically demanding cases we take on.
Our attorneys have handled personal injury cases across Arizona and California. We know how Phoenix insurance companies operate, and we know how to push back.
That number reflects real results for real families — medical bills paid, lost wages recovered, and futures protected.
You pay nothing upfront. Our fee comes out of your settlement or verdict. If we do not win your case, you owe us nothing.
Accidents do not follow business hours. Neither do we. Call (602) 905-7766 any time — nights, weekends, and holidays.
Our Phoenix team works out of 2700 N Central Ave, Suite 320. We know the roads, the courts, and the insurance adjusters you are up against.
“After a crash, you need a team that answers the phone, explains your options, and fights for every dollar you are owed. That is what we do at The Simon Law Group.”
Over 250 years of combined attorney experience
Phoenix office at 2700 N Central Ave, Suite 320 |
Licensed in Arizona and California
Boom failure, dropped loads, and contact with power lines cause the most crane injuries nationwide. In Phoenix, high winds during monsoon season add tip-over risk to the list.
The general contractor, crane rental company, crane operator, equipment manufacturer, and property owner may all share liability depending on what caused the accident.
Yes. Workers' comp covers your employer, but you can file a separate third-party claim against other negligent parties like the crane company or manufacturer.
Arizona's statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit. Workers' comp claims have a one-year reporting deadline with the Industrial Commission of Arizona.
Medical bills, lost wages, future care costs, pain and suffering, and loss of earning capacity. Wrongful death claims add loss of companionship and funeral expenses.
Crane cases often involve catastrophic injuries with settlements ranging from six figures to multi-million-dollar verdicts. Every case depends on injury severity, the number of liable parties, and available insurance coverage.
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