Workplace Injury

Workplace Injury Attorney Serving Dallas-Fort Worth

We’re the most industrious nation in the world, and that means more on-the-job injuries as well. In 2000, there were almost 4 million disabling workplace injuries and 5,200 unintentional workplace deaths in the United States.

According to Injury Facts, 11 unintentional deaths and 2,340 disabling injuries occur every hour in American workplaces. As many American workers have experienced, the back is the body part most frequently injured on the job.

Work-related injuries can include:

An injury that occurs at any place if you are there for the purposes of employment
An accident that occurs at your workplace during a break from work, for a meal break, rest, or refreshment.
A gradual process injury, disease, or infection caused by your workplace or work tasks, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

We all know worker’s compensation benefits will pay for medical bills and limited lost wages, but what about damages for pain and suffering?

At Ted Machi & Associates, P.C., not only will we fight for every dollar and benefit available to you, but we’ll deal with your employer, the doctor, and the insurance companies on your behalf.

Common Workplace Injuries:

Railroad Injuries

In 1990, 40 workers died from railroad-related accidents, with railroad companies reducing train crews and staff support throughout the 1990s – even though rail traffic increased by 40 percent.

Railroad traffic control methods, which are used to manage train routing, speed, and traffic warning signals, are based on technology developed in the 1930s. The industry experienced deregulation throughout the 1980s, and the continued problems of antiquated technology, defective equipment, overworked employees, and lack of training put everyone in jeopardy.

Railroad companies are very organized and efficient when it comes to minimizing their liability when a worker is injured. Contact an attorney if you have been injured while working for a railroad. You need immediate legal protection – call Ted Machi & Associates for a free evaluation of your claim.

Refinery Injuries

Oil refineries and drilling platforms are some of the most dangerous places to work. They are the location of fires, explosions, and toxic releases that destroy the environment and cause serious injury or even death.

Workers on the front line are at the highest risk. Not only are they exposed to extreme occupational pollution, but they also experience injury first when there’s an accident in these plants.

Common oil refinery accidents include:

Capsized oil drilling rigs
Offshore oil platform accidents
Heat exchanger ruptures
Petrochemical refinery explosions

Many oil companies, contractors, and refiners have been held responsible for injuries and deaths because of their negligence and failure to maintain industry-standard levels of safety.

If you’ve been injured while working in an oil refinery, you could be awarded compensation and damages.

Burn Injuries

While many burns occur in the home, victims are commonly burned in the workplace as well. Asphalt tar burns, for example, can be sustained by roofers, road repair workers, and construction workers. The hands are the most common workplace burn injury.

Many workers are at constant risk for burns and electrocutions, such as welders and flame-cutters, electricians, chemical technicians, oil refinery workers, aircraft mechanics, telephone installers, industrial plant workers, painters, railroad workers, boilermakers, and many others in at-risk industries.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires companies to comply with fire safety standards and make avoiding burns and electrocutions as easy as possible for their workers.

Electrocutions

American workers are electrocuted on the job and experiencing work-related fatalities by increasing numbers, according to the Burn Survivor Resource Center. Contact with overhead power lines accounts for about two-fifths of fatal electrocutions.

Common Workplace Injuries:

Construction Accident Attorneys in Arlington & Mansfield

In the last quarter-decade since OSHA) has been regulating workplace safety, injuries and fatalities in industrial jobs have declined – except for on construction sites.

The largest U.S. industry is construction, and it constantly registers high rates of workplace accidents. OSHA has deployed a large amount of its enforcement to the construction industry, yet it’s had little success significantly reducing injuries and fatalities in that field.

A 1992 Bureau of Labor Statistics report revealed that the lost-workday case rate for the construction industry was 5.7 per 100 full-time workers – the highest of any major economic sector.

Injuries in construction can stem from:

Lifting-equipment failure
Compressed-gas accidents
Welding accidents
Roof- or ladder-related falls
Trench collapses
Fires and explosions
Electrocutions and shock
Crane accidents
Being hit by a vehicle on the highway
Being hit by operating equipment

Worker’s compensation benefits do not take into account pain and suffering when a construction worker is hurt on the job.

Personal injury damages from construction accidents may include medical expenses, loss of wage earning capacity, pain and suffering and mental anguish, loss of physical capacity, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Contractors & Liability

A general contractor has ultimate responsibility and authority at a job site. The failure of a general contractor to require adherence to safety regulations can result in serious injury or death. OSHA regulations can help to establish the applicable standard of care that should be used at construction sites.

An independent contractor is a non-employee hired by a contractor to perform work. An employee of an independent contractor may have a cause of action against a general contractor if there was negligence by an employee of the general contractor.

A subcontractor is a person or company hired to do specific tasks by a general contractor. If subcontractors do not follow applicable safety regulations, injuries to their own employees or to the other employees on the job site can occur. OSHA regulations often help to establish the applicable standard of care.

OSHA Violations Lawyers at Ted Machi & Associates

Safety regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 have been adopted by most states in some form, and these regulations apply to work done at construction and other work sites. These guidelines are to protect you as a worker. When the regulations have been violated and you become injured, you may have the right to recover damages.

While trying to cope with physical pain and recovery, victims are often faced with enormous medical bills from their injuries, time missed from work, and emotional scars.