Burn Injury lawyers in California

A burn injury is one of the most traumatic and painful events that one can suffer as they often pose lifelong effects and treatment. The American Burn Association states that roughly, “486,000 patients receive hospital and emergency room treatment for burns each year. In addition, roughly 3,400 burn injury deaths occur each year.”  Burn injuries cause a great extent of emotional, psychological, and physical  distress, which in turn, the costs of recovering from a burn injury are substantial. The treatment of a burn injury largely depends on how the burn occurred and the type of burn that it is. More often than not, burn victims do not realize the extent of their injuries until much later.  Whether a burn injury occurred because of a workplace accident, employer/supervisor negligence, or a defective product, the victim is entitled to compensation. 

What type of burn injuries are there? 

There are three types of burns: 

• 1st degree burns damage the outer layer of the skin.  
• 2nd degree burns damage the outer layer and the layer underneath. 
• 3rd degree burns damage or destroy the deepest layer of the skin and tissue underneath it. Unfortunately, third degree burns demand costly long-term or even life-long treatment. 

What is the leading cause of burn injuries? 

Burn injuries can occur both in and outside of the workplace. 

The most common workplace injuries are: 

• Thermal burns due to skin coming into contact with hot equipment or clothing being ignited by exposure to hot temperatures (OSHA) 
• Negligence: employers have not properly trained employees on fire standards and regulations. 
  • Employees must be trained on: 
    • System discharge alarms and employee evacuation alarms 
    • Evacuation routes employees must use
    • Additional training includes, the general principles of using fire extinguishers or hose lines
• Injuries caused by electrical currents, such as high temperatures produced by explosions 
• Chemical burns in a workplace that deals with chemicals such as industrial acids or gasoline. 
• Burn injuries due to defective products. In this case, the victim can file a lawsuit if there is a third party involved. This is an option of a defective product was involved or there was negligence from other than the employer or direct supervisor, such as a project manager, architect, or engineer. 

The risk of fire in any workplace is real. An open flame is not the only source of burn injuries at a job site. OSHA says they are often caused by electrical currents. 

What are the losses and damages of a burn injury? 

In many cases, the accidents are caused by negligence. In addition, they may want to file a lawsuit if a third party was involved. 

This is an option if: defective product caused the burn injury, negligence on someone else’s behalf other than a direct employer, such as project manager, architect, engineer, a subcontractor or vendor working at the jobsite caused the injury.