Many workers encounter numerous risks while on the job. Heavy machinery such as forklifts, scissor lifts, and others can make big jobs easier and faster, but can also put workers in danger for workplace injury or even death. If a piece of machinery is defective or flawed, it can increase the chance for devastating, sometimes fatal injuries.
Construction projects require many types of equipment to get a variety of different jobs done. Some machinery commonly found at construction sites that can cause severe injury include:
Construction machinery can cause a variety of different injuries. Crushed appendages are a common form of injury and could include fingers, arms, or legs. In some cases, these injuries may require amputation. Defective equipment can also result in serious falls, which can result in head trauma, broken bones, or even partial or total loss of vision. Many of these injuries can cause permanent disability that may prevent a construction employee from returning to work or require lengthy, costly rehabilitation.
Because there is such a stark variety of machine types that can be on work sites, there are numerous ways in which a workplace injury can occur. Generally, if a there is defective machinery on site, the circumstances surrounding the injury typically occur in one of four ways. One is that there is a defective shut-off switch, meaning that a machine cannot be effectively powered down or even reactivates itself while a worker is performing a task on or with it. The second circumstance is defective electrical wiring; in this situation it is electrocution that poses the greatest risk. Third, there is inadequate safety information, as touched on above. This is when the machinery lacks the proper safety instructions or warnings. Lastly, a defective machine can have improper or missing safety guards/shielding, meaning that there is no mechanism in play to act as a barrier between the worker and the dangerous parts of the machine, such as rotating blades.
If construction machinery is designed in such a way that it cannot be safely used for its intended purpose, it presents a serious risk to the workers. These risks are avoidable, and the responsibility to provide a safe workplace falls on the employer. However, faulty machinery presents workers with a diverse group of risks, ranging from defective products that do not match their intended designs or machinery that lacks the proper warning labels and safety instructions. These mistakes in production and/or labeling can, quite literally, threaten or protect an employee’s life.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a construction accident involving defective machinery, call our Philadelphia product liability lawyers at Galfand Berger. Our knowledgeable, dedicated lawyers will prepare an aggressive legal strategy to hold those responsible for your injury accountable and get you the compensation you deserve. With offices conveniently located in Center City, Philadelphia, we serve clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Call us today at 1-800-222-USWA (8792) or contact us online to review your case with a qualified product liability lawyer.