Someone fell off a roof. Now what?

A fall from a roof is not one legal problem. It is usually two or three stacked on top of each other, and they run on different clocks. There is the workers' compensation claim, which covers medical bills and part of your wages but bars you from suing your own employer. There is the separate claim against whoever else contributed — the general contractor, the property owner, the equipment manufacturer, another sub on site — which is where the real money in these cases lives. And there may be an OSHA investigation running in parallel that has nothing to do with paying you but produces evidence that shapes everything else.

Most people only find out about the second one after the deadline to bring it has passed. That is the single most expensive mistake in this category, and it happens because the first adjuster to call is friendly, helpful, and works for the comp carrier — whose interests stop at the edge of the comp claim.

If you're a homeowner instead, your question is narrower and the answer is more reassuring than you expect: whether you are personally exposed usually turns on whether the person who fell was a properly insured contractor, and on what your own policy already covers. That is worth understanding before you talk to anyone.