• Ready for real help?

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Work Accidents

What happens when there are Pennsylvania work accidents? That really depends on several things. For example, how severe was the accident? Were there injuries or fatalities? What sort of accident was it? What caused the incident?

The answers to such questions are used to determine if anyone is liable to those who were injured in the accident, or to their surviving dependents if a fatality occurred. Naturally, this means that an investigation has to occur, and it is often a group like OSHA that handles the work. Of course, insurance companies might also have to do an investigation as well along with other organizations.

The results of the investigations, however, may not be allowed to be freely used in any sort of court cases because of confidentiality or some other legal glitch. This can make it very challenging for the parties injured in Pennsylvania work accidents to obtain adequate compensation for their injuries, losses, or suffering. And it is why there is always the need for those injured in work accidents to seek legal help immediately.

Time is of the Essence

That phrase is a bit of an old-fashioned statement, but it is no cliché when it comes to a work accident. The sooner you let your employer know you have been injured, the more likely you will be to obtain compensation (through worker’s compensation and other insurance coverage), but even then you may have a battle ahead of you.

After all, few insurance companies happily or eagerly payout money, and you may find yourself fighting with one of them to get the kind of compensation you require. These insurance firms, as well as your employer itself, may want to reduce the amount of their liability, and they might try to show that they had much less of a role in the injury or accident.

Statistics Prove the Workplace is Dangerous

You need only pay a visit to the Bureau of Labor Statistics pages on Pennsylvania work accidents to see that you are hardly 100% safe when you are at work each day. (BLS.gov, 2013) After all, in 2013 alone there were more than 175 deaths in the workplace, and many of them were probably avoidable.

In addition to large number of fatalities, there were scores of nonfatal injuries, and in every single instance it is likely that the incident could have been prevented. From falls and exposure to harmful materials to vehicle accidents and falling objects, human and mechanical errors can always wreak havoc, but they can usually be eliminated through protocols and safety procedures.

These statistics drive employers and insurance firms to look for ways of reducing liability if something does occur. Unfortunately, it is not just a serious accident that causes a problem. A lot of workers are injured because of repeated physical strain or because they are asked to overexert themselves on the job. These are things that definitely fall under the workplace purview, and that means the liability is the employer’s.

However, it is common enough for an insurance firm’s lawyers to try to claim that a worker’s life outside of the workplace may have contributed to the injury, and so on. There are so many ways that employers and their insurance companies try to work around liability after Pennsylvania work accidents, and so an experienced attorney becomes your best asset.

Heavens Law has many years of experience in working directly with victims of workplace accidents, and can help you with everything from wrongful death cases to a worker’s compensation issue. You are not supposed to carry the financial burden of an accident that was not your fault, and so a good attorney should be your first call after any incidents occur.

Source

  • BLS.gov. Fatal occupational injuries in Pennsylvania. 2013. https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/tgs/2013/iiffw42.htm
awward
awward
awward
awward
awward
awward