Forklift Accidents
Since 1947, our personal injury law firm has been helping victims of serious lift-truck accidents. Forklifts, also known as lifts or fork trucks, are powered industrial trucks that are used to transport materials for short distances. Forklifts cause thousands of serious and sometimes fatal injuries every year. Our Philadelphia construction accident lawyers have represented many people who suffered serious injury and death from lift trucks that:
- Collided with other lift trucks, people or objects
- Backed into people or objects
- Misused as elevated work platforms
- Tipped over and caused the operator to suffer a crush injury
- Malfunctioned causing objects to fall off the forks
- Lacked an adequate rollover protection system (ROPS). An effective ROPS includes (a) an overhead guard; (b) seat belts; and (c) seats with armrest, body, and shoulder extensions.
Lift Truck Accidents
The following are some examples of typical lift truck accidents that have resulted in litigation:
- An overhead guard crushed the deceased when the lift truck upset. There was no rollover protection system (ROPS).
- A construction lift (high loader) without an effective ROPS was upset and ejected an operator. It pinned him by the overhead guard and compressed his spine. This caused paralysis, leaving him paraplegic.
- The victim was crushed when pallets slipped over the top of the truck. The lift truck did not have ROPS or a back-lift extension of the fork.
- The deceased was struck on the head by the overhead guard when he was ejected during a lift truck upset. With an effective ROPS, the death could have been prevented.
- The legs of the injured were crushed when his lift truck overturned on a level cement floor with the fork in the down position and no load. This could have been prevented with ROPS.
- The injured was run over by a lift truck while walking in an aisle. He and the lift truck operator were unaware of one another. This could have been avoided if an automatic warning device was on the lift truck.
- The injured had his back to a lift truck while he was sweeping the warehouse floor. The lift truck backed up and ran over him—breaking both of his legs. The injury could have been avoided by automatic backup alarms on the lift truck.
Too often are workers injured or killed because proper guarding or warning devices are not in place as they should be. It is the responsibility of machine manufacturers to create reasonably safe and effective products, just as it is the responsibility of an employer to maintain a safe workplace. An attorney at our firm can answer questions of liability after a forklift injury or death.
Contact a Philadelphia Forklift Accident Attorney
Our Philadelphia personal injury law firm is experienced in representing victims of serious injury or death due to the unsafe forklifts. We are happy to answer any questions and review your case for free. Please call us at 1-800-222-USWA (8792) or complete our short contact form and a member of our firm will contact you.
With offices in Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Lancaster and Reading, we serve clients throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And, remember, there is no fee unless we recover for you.