“Very thankful for everything they did for us. Always responsive, reassured us every step of the way and obtained a great result.”
Miguel Orellana
✦ Board-Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law — State Bar of California ✦
Construction is California’s most dangerous industry. When you’re injured, experience matters.
By Eman Yazdchi, Esq. · Certified Specialist in Workers' Compensation Law
Construction in Sylmar is constant. As the northernmost neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles and the gateway between the San Fernando Valley and the Antelope Valley via the 14 Freeway, Sylmar sees ongoing residential development, commercial building, and infrastructure projects. The industrial buildings along San Fernando Road require regular renovation and expansion. Road and highway construction along the 14 and surrounding corridors employs crews year-round. Residential construction fills the hillside areas and flatlands throughout the community. When construction workers in Sylmar suffer falls, crush injuries, equipment accidents, or cumulative trauma from years of physical labor, they need a lawyer who handles construction injury workers' comp cases specifically.
Construction sites in Sylmar produce the full range of injuries that make construction one of the most dangerous industries in California. Falls from scaffolding, rooftops, ladders, and elevated work platforms are the leading cause of serious construction injuries. A two-story fall from a residential framing project can produce spinal fractures, traumatic brain injuries, and shattered limbs. Falls from commercial and industrial structures along San Fernando Road tend to involve greater heights and worse outcomes.
Struck-by injuries from falling materials, swinging loads, and heavy equipment are the second major hazard. Workers on the ground are hit by tools, lumber, and debris dropped from above. Backhoes, excavators, and cranes operating in tight spaces strike workers who are in their swing radius. Trench collapses during utility and foundation work can crush workers or bury them entirely. These incidents are frequently fatal and always catastrophic.
Electrocution is a particular danger in Sylmar's construction environment. Workers who contact overhead power lines while operating boom lifts or cranes, or who encounter live wiring during renovation work on older industrial buildings along San Fernando Road, suffer severe electrical burns and cardiac injuries. The older industrial infrastructure in Sylmar means renovation and retrofit projects frequently involve unexpected hazards including asbestos, lead paint, and outdated electrical systems that create additional exposure risks.
Cumulative trauma is the less dramatic but equally disabling reality of construction work. Years of operating jackhammers and pneumatic tools produce hand-arm vibration syndrome. Repetitive overhead work causes chronic rotator cuff injuries. Kneeling on concrete floors day after day destroys knee cartilage. Heavy lifting across a career of construction labor leads to degenerative disc disease and chronic back conditions. These cumulative injuries are fully compensable under workers' comp, though they require specific medical evidence to establish the connection between the work activities and the resulting condition.
California's workers' comp system covers construction workers regardless of employer size, job classification, or length of employment. Under Labor Code Section 3600, an injury that arises out of and occurs in the course of employment is compensable. This includes traumatic injuries from a specific event, like a fall or a struck-by incident, as well as cumulative trauma that develops over months or years of construction work.
Benefits include full medical treatment with no copays or deductibles, temporary disability payments at two-thirds of your average weekly wage while you recover, permanent disability benefits based on your lasting impairment, and supplemental job displacement vouchers if you cannot return to your previous construction occupation. For catastrophic injuries like spinal cord damage or severe traumatic brain injuries, lifetime medical treatment and potentially total permanent disability benefits may apply.
To protect your claim, report the injury to your employer immediately and file a DWC-1 claim form. The insurance carrier has 90 days to accept or deny the claim, and you are entitled to $10,000 in medical treatment during that investigation window. Sylmar construction injury cases are heard at the Van Nuys Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, which is close to Sylmar and handles cases for the entire north San Fernando Valley area.
Construction in Sylmar involves a workforce that faces specific vulnerabilities. Many construction laborers are hired through subcontractors or labor brokers, creating confusion about which entity is the actual employer and which carries the workers' comp insurance. Some subcontractors operating in the area's residential and commercial construction sectors are uninsured in violation of Labor Code Section 3700. Workers may not know which entity to file a claim against or may be told by a subcontractor that they are "independent contractors" who are not covered.
Misclassification of construction employees as independent contractors is one of the most common tactics used to avoid workers' comp obligations. Under California law, most construction workers are employees, not independent contractors, regardless of what the employer calls them. Assembly Bill 5 and the ABC test codified in Labor Code Section 2750.3 establish a strong presumption of employee status. If you were hurt on a construction site and told you are not covered because you are an "independent contractor," that classification is very likely wrong.
Sylmar's construction workforce also includes many workers who may fear that filing a workers' comp claim will trigger immigration consequences. Under Labor Code Section 3351, workers' compensation covers all employees regardless of immigration status. Your employer and the insurance company cannot ask about your immigration status during the claims process. Filing a workers' comp claim does not expose you to any immigration risk.
Injured at work in Sylmar? Call (661) 273-1780
Tap to call →Construction injury cases involve complex medical and legal issues that generalist attorneys frequently mishandle. Multiple body part injuries, disputes over the mechanism of injury, apportionment arguments, and the interaction between workers' comp and potential third-party claims against equipment manufacturers or general contractors all require specialized knowledge. Eman Yazdchi is a Board-Certified Workers' Compensation Specialist, one of fewer than 1% of California attorneys with this credential. For Sylmar construction workers with serious injuries, that specialization is the difference between a case that is fully developed and one that leaves substantial benefits on the table.
Yazdchi Law's Palmdale office is a direct drive from Sylmar up the 14 Freeway. The firm handles construction injury cases at the Van Nuys WCAB and represents workers from the initial claim through settlement or trial.
Ready to discuss your case? Schedule a free consultation.
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