Attorney For Burn Injuries
Injuries caused by burns on the job jeopardize employees, their families and neighborhoods at the social and economic levels. Not only do the injured parties suffer severe physical and often permanent debilitation, they also suffer tremendous trauma to their emotional and psychological health. These can cause life-long damage to one’s overall well-being.
Even though employers might implement safety guidelines in the workplace, injuries from burns on the job still make up a large percentage of all burn injuries. That percentage is near 30 percent, according to statistics.
Reports from OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) show that over five thousand burn injury cases occur in the U.S. annually, caused by explosions and fires at the job site. That counts for around 10 to 45 percent of all burn cases. 40% of fatalities from burn injuries happened at the workplace. The largest number of burn cases occur in the Food Service Industry, accounting for around 12,000 injuries annually. Occupations that are considered the highest risk for workplace burn injuries include food preparers, kitchen staff, servers, etc.
Safety on the job must involve comprehensive training in order to ensure employees are prepared. This begins with increasing awareness of safety issues, which requires the participation of both the employees and the employer. This includes a thorough review of all technical manuals for any equipment and machinery so workers know how to prevent injuries from burns. Although the employee follows all safety protocol, sometimes injuries can still happen because equipment can fail, another employee might be negligent, or the employer might fail to implement proper procedures.
When workplace conditions are unsafe, it can result in painful burn injuries. Burns can be caused by equipment overheating, flames getting out of control, or spillage of caustic chemicals.
Here are four of the most common types of injuries caused by burns:
– Chemical Burns: These burns happen when caustic chemicals touch the skin. The heat reaction from the chemicals can scald through multiple layers of skin. These chemicals include industrial strength cleaning agents and chemicals used in laboratories. Burns can result if these containers are mislabeled. Burn injuries result when the employer is negligent with providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to the employees who are obligated to handle these dangerous substances on the job without protection for their face, eyes, and hands.
– Electrical Burns: These burns can occur when job sites in high-voltage area do not mark exposed wires clearly. When employees enter the job site, they risk injuries when they come into contact with these wires. Employees who work with electricity near water risk getting injured when they touch water with electrical current running through it. This can result in serious damage to the skin, or even fatality. A lot of these injuries are the result of the employers’ failure to implement safety measures on the job site.
– Thermal Burns: These burns are caused by liquids at an extremely high temperature or exposure to fires. They are like burns caused by chemicals. When skin comes into contact with extremely hot substances, immediate treatment must be administered to prevent skin damage from second or third-degree burns.
– Other types of burns: At the workplace, other types of burns can also occur. Exposure to extremely cold temperatures, like a freezer or liquid nitrogen, can result in burn injuries. Burns can be caused by friction. When the job requires the employee to come into contact with a hard surface continuously, the skin can rub to the extent that results in a burn. Burns can occur when an employee’s job site is outdoors and he is exposed to the sun too long. Prolonged exposure to solar radiation can result in painful skin damage.
