Workers’ Compensation for Industrial Accidents?

Industrial accidents occur in various sectors of factory work and can cause serious injuries. As in any other workplace, industrial workers can seek workers’ compensation for the damages incurred by the accident.

Common Industrial Accidents

Electrocution, dependent on its severity, can cause minor damage or serious injury. Electrocution occurs when the owner of the premises does not properly maintain their property, causing faulty/exposed wiring and defective equipment. Electrocution can cause burns, nerve damage, heart attack, and sometimes death.

Toxic Exposure involves exposing the workers to toxic gases or chemicals. This can happen physically through skin contact, ingested, or inhaled. Some harmful industrial substances that cause toxic exposure are lead, asbestos, gasoline, and even cleaning solutions that are not safe to inhale or touch. Toxic exposure causes short term effects like dizziness and headache, but can pose long term risks like cancer development, internal damage, neurological issues, and death dependent on exposure.

Falling objects are a straightforward cause of industrial accidents. Improperly stored items or loose building components can cause significant fall damage to both property and worker. Falling objects cause concussions and broken bones in minor accidents. In more severe accidents, falling objects can cause brain damage or death.

Falling from elevated locations can cause broken bones and internal damage. Falls commonly happen when using ladders or scaffolding. Several risks come into play when assessing ladder falls: defective equipment, interfering or negligent coworkers, inclement weather, and exposure to power lines. Scaffolding accidents occur under different risk factors, like unprotected openings on the scaffold, insufficient covering of scaffold rebar, and faulty components (braces, connectors, etc.).

Mechanical injuries occur when a machine component hits a worker, or the worker gets stuck somewhere in a machine. This causes a range of damage: bruising, broken bones, severed limbs, tissue damage, and potential death. If defective machinery does not cause mechanical injuries, they are typically a consequence of the past-paced industrial environment. In this case, tripping on or around, and squeezing past, dangerous machinery are common causes.

Inadequate safety regulations are an additional cause of workplace accidents, especially in reference to the operation of machinery. An employer that lacks effective communication – including signage, verbal, and written communication – unintentionally creates danger when they ask their employees to operate heavy machinery or tools. Inadequate safety regulations can cause falls, electrocution, mechanical injuries, and toxic exposure.

Workers’ Compensation Claim

Certain injuries sustained while working in an industrial setting are the result of employer negligence. Industrial workers receive workers’ compensation payments for medical bills they accrue from treating workplace accidents. Sometimes the employer’s insurance company will also cover lost wages, but this is not a guaranteed benefit. In the case that workers’ compensation does not accurately address the damages incurred by the incident, the injured worker can sue their employer for negligence in the workplace.

The worker should seek legal assistance in filing either claim with their employer. In some cases, employers may withhold certain benefits or retaliate when an employee files for workers’ compensation. Effectively addressing situations like these requires professional consultation and backing.

Benefits of Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation benefits assist the injured worker in their recovery. Workers’ compensation benefits apply to any worker, even if employer negligence did not cause the incident. Job-related illnesses and conditions, like carpel tunnel syndrome, are covered under workers’ compensation.

Dependent on the worker’s status post-accident, they may be eligible to receive at least two-thirds of their paycheck via lost wages. Full-time status and base pay determine the payout of workers’ compensation in terms of lost wages. However, compensation benefits always cover all medical bills and recovery-related objects and medications for the injured worker.

Industrial accidents are typically more severe than incidents like falls in the office workplace. With that in mind, the workers’ compensation claims process in in place to benefit any employee when they suffer work-related injuries, no matter the severity.