Workplace Amputation Lawsuit

If you were injured at work and it resulted in the loss of a limb, you may have a workplace amputation lawsuit.

Can I Sue for Pain and Suffering after a Workplace Amputation?

If your arm, hand, finger, leg, foot or toe was amputated at work, you may have a personal injury claim against a company that is not your employer. This is called a “third party claim” and allows you to sue for pain and suffering compensation, including disability, physical pain, emotional suffering, loss of quality of life, and disfigurement.

Use the form below to contact our law firm and talk with an amputation lawyer. It will not cost you anything to talk with one of our lawyers about a lawsuit.

We are not paid unless you win. Submitting this form does not create an attorney-client relationship.
The attorneys at Pritzker Hageman
Attorneys at Pritzker Hageman represent clients in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. You can call 1-888-377-8900 to request a free consultation.

If a party other than your employer was at fault for the accident that led to your amputation, you may have claims for much more compensation than what you will receive from workers’ compensation. For example, if defective machinery was at least part of the cause, you can sue the manufacturer of the machinery for pain and suffering, which includes emotional distress, disfigurement, loss of quality of life, and other damages.

Possible liable parties other than your employer include the following:

  • The manufacturer of defective machinery or equipment
  • The owner of the property on which the accident took place, e.g., the owner of a construction site or manufacturing plant
  • The owner of the machinery or equipment that injured you
  • The owner of a vehicle
  • A trucking company
  • An employer
  • The owner of freight being hauled in a tractor trailer
  • The driver of a vehicle
  • A construction company.

When our law firm represents amputation victims, we do our own investigation to gather evidence regarding fault, liability, and damages (the amount you should be compensated).

Causes of Workplace Amputations

The primary causes of amputation in the workplace are the following:

  • failure to properly apply machine guarding techniques;
  • failure to adequately control associated energy hazards during servicing and/or maintenance activities; and
  • accidents with vehicles.

Injuries involving machinery and equipment often result in death or permanent disability. OSHA’s inspection history indicates that employee exposures to unguarded or inadequately guarded machinery and equipment, together with associated hazardous energy employee exposures during servicing and maintenance activities, occur in many workplaces.

High Pressure Pipe Fitting Explosion
An explosion involving gas pipelines or equipment can cause severe injuries.

OSHA Violation and Presumption of Negligence

Although OSHA has extensive regulations regarding machine guarding and energy control standards, compliance with these regulations continues to be a problem. Many of the amputations that occur in the workplace are caused by non-compliance with OSHA regulations.  When this happens, there are legal implications.

When an injury is caused by an OSHA regulation violation, there is a presumption of negligence, one element that must be proved to win a construction site amputation case and obtain compensation for you.

Workplace amputations are most often sustained by employees in the following, according to OSHA:

  • Construction Site
  • Meat Packing Plant
  • Poultry Slaughtering and Processing Plant
  • Natural, Processed, and Imitation Cheese Plants
  • Farm
  • Bakery
  • Commercial Kitchen
  • Textile Plant
  • Logging Operation
  • Sawmill
  • Planing Mill
  • Hardwood Flooring Mill
  • Cabinet Shop and Manufacturing Plant
  • Wood Pallet Manufacturing Plant
  • Wood Furniture Shop and Plant
  • Paper Box Plant – Corrugated and Solid Fiber Boxes
  • Plants that Package Paper and Plastics Film, Coated and Laminated
  • Commercial Printing and Lithographic
  • Plants That Make Plastics Products
  • Companies That Manufacture Concrete Products
  • Concrete Construction Companies
  • Metalworking at a Plant, Construction Site or Other
  • Plants Manufacturing Cold-Rolled Steel Sheet, Strip, Bar, Pipe and Tubing
  • Companies that Use Cold-Rolled Steel Sheets, Strips and Bars, Pipes and Tubes
  • Steel Foundries
  • Boiler Shops
  • Sheet Metal Work
  • Architectural and Ornamental Metal Work
  • Iron and Steel Forging
  • Automotive Stamping
  • Metal Stamping
  • Companies that Use or Manufacture Fabricated Wire Products and Fabricated Metal Products
  • Tool and Die Plant – Tools, Die Sets, Jigs and Fixtures and Industrial Molds
  • Companies that Manufacture and Install Industrial and Commercial Fans and Blowers and Air Purification Equipment
  • Heating and Air Conditioning Company – Manufacture, Installation and/or Maintenance
  • Refrigeration Company – Manufacture, Installation and/or Maintenance of Refrigeration Equipment
  • Automotive or and Motor Vehicle Part Plant – Parts and Accessories

Machinery and Equipment with Amputation Risk

Machine

  • Mechanical Power Press
  • Hydraulic Power Press
  • Power Press Brake
  • Shear
  • Lathe
  • Cold Header and Cold Former
  • Drilling, Milling and Boring Machines
  • Grinding Machinery
  • Metal Sawing Machine
  • Gear Cutting Machine
  • Roll-Forming and Roll-Bending Machines
  • Coil-Slitting Machine
  • Pipe, Tube, and Shape Bending Machines
  • Metal Powder Compacting Presses
  • Horizontal Hydraulic Extrusion Press
  • Equipment for Processing Strip, Sheet or Plate From Coiled Configuration
  • External Cylindrical Grinding Machine (Centerless)
  • External Cylindrical Grinding Machine (Universal)
  • Printing Press
  • Binding and Finishing Systems
  • Guillotine Paper Cutter
  • Abrasive Wheel
  • Plastic Film and Sheet Winding Equipment
  • Plastic Sheet Production Machinery
  • Packaging Machinery and Packaging-Related Converting Machinery
  • Three Roller Printing Ink Mill
  • Woodworking Machinery
  • Mechanical Power Presses, General Purpose Single Point
  • Mechanical Power Transmission
  • Screw Conveyor
  • Roller Conveyor
  • Belt Conveyor
  • Belt Driven Live Roller Conveyor
  • Chain Driven Live Roller Conveyor
  • Packaging Handling Conveyor – Slant Conveyor
  • Farm Machinery

Construction Accident

When a construction worker loses a limb, it is usually due to one of the following:

  • Construction vehicles colliding
  • Loading and unloading accidents, often involving a fork lift.
  • Defective machinery (product liability)
  • Poorly trained employee who accidentally injures another person
  • Unsafe working conditions
  • Electric shock
  • Explosion.

OSHA regulations for construction are found at 29 CFR 1926.

Additional Information

If you have been in an accident that resulted in an amputation, you can call our lawyers at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the form below.