Common Warehouse Accidents Covered By Workers’ Compensation

Warehouses generally store large inventories and heavy machinery, plus utilize every bit of cubic square footage, making for very great heights and other dangers. Furthermore, warehouse workers usually have a more rigorous workload involving specialized duties that pose several hazards of their own.

More than many other industries out there, warehouse work presents a higher frequency of accidents and injuries. If you are a warehouse worker, it is important to ensure you are protecting yourself on the job as much as you can.  Your employer and other employers and their employees should also be seeking to make the premises and job as safe as possible for all people who work in the warehouse.

Continue reading to learn more about these common warehouse accidents and how to get legal help understanding your workers’ comp benefits as an injured warehouse employee in Indiana.

Warehouse Accident Lawyers Indiana 317-881-2700
Warehouse Accident Lawyers Indiana 317-881-2700

Third-Party Liability For Warehouses Accidents

Because there are usually more than one employer and their employees working at a warehouse, sometimes an injury is caused by someone other than a co-employee.  If this occurs, the employer or third-party can also possibly be held liable for the injuries caused, if they were caused by negligence.  It is vitally important to have the facts on exactly how your injury occurred reviewed by an attorney to determine if you have a third-party case, in addition to a worker compensation case, as what you can recover for damages can be different and more substantial if you also have a third-party case.

Common Workplace Accidents in Warehouses

Some of the most common accidents that happen to warehouse workers and staff include slip and fall accidents, forklift accidents, loading dock accidents, and even overexertion. Fortunately, these accidents and more should be covered by your workers compensation benefits.

Slip and Fall Accidents

The Department of Labor suggests that the number one cause of warehouse injuries is due to slip, trip, and fall accidents. This includes fall accidents from great heights, such as scaffolding, elevators, or stairwells. The Department of Labor reports that slip and fall accidents make up for 25% of workplace warehouse accident claims and 15% of workplace fatalities. They also estimate that 95 million working days are lost because of slip and fall warehouse accidents.

Forklift Accidents

Most warehouses require forklifts and similar types of machinery to move and organize their heavy palettes and boxes of inventory. Forklifts are large and motorized construction vehicles that can only be operated by those who are properly certified. But even with proper qualifications and training, workplace forklift accidents happen all the time. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, approximately 35,000 serious forklift accidents occur annually in warehouses all across the country. Of all the warehouse fatalities that are reported each year, nearly 16% are a result of forklifts.

Loading Dock Accidents

Aside from unsafe surfaces, great heights, and motorized machinery, loading docks are another common workplace hazard. Dockworkers have reported injuries from slipping, falling, getting pinned between objects, large objects falling on top of them, or being injured by a forklift or other kind of motorized warehouse equipment.

Overexertion

Although not typically recognized as a type of workplace risk or injury, overexertion is a common type of physical suffering experienced by warehouse workers across the nation. Warehouse work is normally heavy-duty labor, involving lifting, pushing, pulling, twisting, building, and all sorts of repetitive movements.

Additionally, warehouse workers tend to keep very long hours, with an average of 10 to 12 hours a day. As a result of all this hard and repetitive labor, certain areas of the body can take on significant stress, including backs, necks, shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists, and joints. Overexertion injuries are typically covered by workers compensation benefits.

Are you an injured warehouse worker in Indiana who needs help understanding your workers’ compensation benefits? Contact the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C. at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free case evaluation regarding your Indiana workplace injury, today. We serve clients all throughout the state. Again, if you were injured at work and the incident was the fault of anyone other than a co-employee, you would also have a third-party claim so it is important to contact an attorney right away.

Related Posts:

What to Do After Being Injured in an Industrial Accident in Indiana
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Do I Notify OSHA if Injured at Work Due to a Safety Violation?

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What to Do After Being Injured in an Industrial Accident in Indiana

In cities across the country, we graciously express thanks to our industrial workers for laying the foundation of our local economies. The industrial labor industry, although essential in many ways, is a dangerous one for those employed within its various trades and productions. As an injured industrial worker in Indiana, it is vital that you learn your rights regarding the collection of compensation for your damages and losses incurred because of your industrial accident.

Continue reading to learn what to do after being injured in an industrial accident Indiana so that you may protect your rights and preserve your quality of life.

Industrial Accident Workplace Injury Lawyers Indiana
Industrial Accident Workplace Injury Lawyers Indiana 317-881-2700

Help for Victims of Indiana Industrial Accidents

Whether you work on the engineering, manufacturing, or business side of the industrial industry, accidents can happen all around you. From slips, trips, and falls to amputations, orthopedic injuries, burn injuries, and more, the scope of possible industrial accidents are wide-ranging.

Regardless of how you are injured in your industrial accident, if your accident occurred as a result of another’s negligence or recklessness, you may be entitled to a settlement for your damages and losses.

Common damages losses that victims typically suffer after an industrial accident in Indiana include hospital bills, medical expenses, lost wages for missing work, pain-and-suffering, mental anguish, permanent disfigurement, permanent disability, loss of companionship, and even wrongful death.

Industrial Accidents Commonly Involve:

▷ Factories
Construction Sites
▷ Warehouses
▷ Drilling Rigs
▷ Mines
▷ Processing Plants
▷ Refineries
▷ Grain Mills
▷ Paper Mills

How to Obtain a Successful Outcome to Your Workers’ Compensation Claim and/or Third Party Claim

When a person is injured while working, they obviously would have a worker compensation claim that they can make through their employer’s worker compensation insurance carrier.  Worker compensation claims have set limits on what amount of money an injured person may recover however. In a worker compensation claim, an injured person also cannot recover damages for pain and suffering. In addition, in a worker compensation claim, the worker does not need to prove anyone was negligent. They need only prove they were injured in the course and scope of their employment.

When a person is injured while working, they may also have a third party claim in addition to the worker compensation claim they can make. A third party claim exists when the injury to the worker occurs as the result of negligence of a person who is not also a direct co-employee of the injured worker. For example, if two companies are working at a job site and while working putting together scaffolding a worker from one company is injured by an employee of another company who backs up a forklift into the person putting the scaffolding together, the forklift operator’s employer could be held liable for all damages, including pain and suffering damages that are not compensable in the worker compensation claim. Any judgement against the forklift operator’s employer would be paid by their liability insurance carrier.

The most effective tool you can equip yourself with when pursuing legal action against a wrongful party that caused your injuries is an Indiana workplace injury lawyer. They retain the proper resources, knowledge, and experience to navigate your personal injury case from start to finish, ensuring that you obtain the maximum settlement or verdict for your Indiana industrial accident claim.

Industrial Accident Claim Representation in Indiana

Here at the Law Office of Craven, Hoover, and Blazek P.C., we have represented numerous clients catastrophically injured on the job throughout the state of Indiana. Not only can we help victims obtain financial relief in the form of a verdict or settlement, but we can also support clients in obtaining proper medical treatment and counseling.

We fight for our clients’ rights to compensation for past, current, and future losses, including loss of ability to work performed the same work duties before the accident occurred, as well as partial, temporary, and total disability benefits. Choose our Indiana industrial accident lawyers for superior and aggressive-when-needed personal injury representation for your workers’ compensation claim.

We also fight for clients’ rights to compensation for pain and suffering and all other damages if there is a third party claim in addition to a worker compensation claim that can be made.

Are you ready to learn your best options for obtaining compensation after being catastrophically injured in an industrial accident? Contact us at 317-881-2700 to schedule a free personal injury case evaluation with an Indiana workers’ compensation lawyer soon. Act fast, before time runs out on your claim and significant evidence is lost.

You Should Also Read:

Who is Liable for Independent Contractor Commercial Construction Injuries?
Where to Learn About Employers’ Responsibilities and Workers’ Rights
Can I File a Third Party Claim On Top of a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

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