Workplace Injuries Caused by Defective Industrial Machines: Understanding Your Legal Rights

Industrial machines are essential in many workplaces, including factories, warehouses, and construction sites. Unfortunately, when these machines are defective or lack proper safety features, they can cause serious and life-changing injuries. Workers hurt by dangerous equipment may have the right to workers’ compensation benefits and a third-party claim against the manufacturer or another responsible company.

Common Machines Involved in Workplace Accidents

Several types of industrial equipment frequently cause severe injuries when they malfunction or lack proper safety protections:

• Conveyor Systems: Often used in warehouses and manufacturing facilities, conveyors can pull workers’ hands, clothing, or hair into rollers, causing crushing injuries, amputations, or severe lacerations.
• Forklifts and Industrial Vehicles: Defective brakes, poor design, or malfunctioning safety systems can lead to tip-overs, crushing injuries, and workers being struck by the vehicle.
• Power Presses and Metal Stamping Machines: These machines use tremendous force to shape metal. When safety guards or sensors fail, workers can suffer finger or hand amputations, fractures, and permanent nerve damage.
• Saws and Cutting Equipment: Table saws, band saws, and similar equipment can cause deep lacerations and amputations if blade guards or safety mechanisms are defective.
• Packaging and Wrapping Machines: Moving parts and rotating components can cause entanglement injuries, broken bones, and crushing injuries.
• Winding Machines: These machines wrap wire, paper, webbing, or other material during the manufacturing process, but they often expose workers to rapidly rotating moving parts that can catch workers’ hands and pull them into the machines.

Why Defective Machines Cause Injuries

Industrial machine accidents often occur because of preventable problems, such as:

• Missing or defective safety guards
• Faulty emergency shutoff systems
• Design flaws or manufacturing defects
• Improper installation or maintenance

When these issues exist, responsibility may extend beyond the employer.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Most employees injured on the job can receive workers’ compensation benefits, which may cover:

• Medical treatment
• Partial lost wages
• Disability benefits
• Rehabilitation services

However, workers’ compensation does not provide compensation for pain and suffering.  That’s where a Galfand Berger products liability attorney may help.

Third-Party Claims for Defective Machinery

If a defective machine caused the injury, a worker may also file a third-party product liability claim against companies such as:

• Machine manufacturers
• Equipment designers
• Parts manufacturers
• Maintenance or repair companies
• Distributors or sellers of the machine and parts

Unlike workers’ compensation, third-party claims may allow recovery for pain and suffering, full lost wages, and other damages.

Injured Workers May Have Multiple Legal Options

In many cases, injured workers can receive workers’ compensation benefits while also pursuing a third-party lawsuit. Because serious machinery accidents often involve complex safety and engineering issues, a thorough investigation is critical.

If you were injured by industrial machinery at work, speaking with a Galfand Berger personal injury attorney can help you understand your rights and pursue the full compensation you deserve. 

Here are recent examples of our firm’s recoveries in third-party matters:

• A 29-year-old factory worker and married mother of three children suffered catastrophic injuries when she crawled under an inadequately guarded machine to remove a jam. While she was under the machine working to free the jam, a rotating shaft caught her hair and pulled off most of her scalp.  Brad Smith resolved this matter for $5 million, bringing our client freedom from financial anxiety so she can undergo future treatment to maximize her recovery. Read more here.
• A $2 million dollar recovery for our client, injured on a winder machine that resulted in his CRPS. Read more about this machine injury.

If you’ve been injured on the job and have questions about your rights, call Galfand Berger LLP at 1-800-222-8792 or email us at [email protected] for a free consultation.