For the most part, any workplace is a fairly safe place to be, free of threats to an employee’s health. Many standards for air quality, temperature, and much more will minimize the threat of bodily harm. But ultimately, a worker’s safety is not a 100% guarantee, and some lines of work indeed are quite risky. Construction workers, repair crews, miners, park rangers, and the like face threats to their health, so this is why slip and fall attorneys, wrongful death lawyers, and personal injury attorneys may be hired to help in case an incident takes place. “Trip and fall” is not as silly as it sounds; in many work environments, losing your footing and falling can be very dangerous, and construction workers have lost their lives this way. Fortunately, there are many laws in place to allow an injured worker to receive compensation, and should they tragically lose their life, their family may turn to a wrongful death lawyer during litigation.
Workplace Hazard
What sort of injuries are workers sustaining on the job, and what hazards should they be aware of? A construction site is a hotspot of workplace hazards, and though employees are trained to avoid injury, incidents might still happen. For example, lung disease is common among construction workers, such as breathing in the fumes of a motor or the fumes from paint thinner or other chemicals, such as spray foam. Not only that, but fine silicates can be kicked up into the air when bricks, concrete, and other materials are cut or crushed. Those fine particles may be inhaled and cause serious lung issues, and in fact lung disease is one of the most common workplace illnesses associated with construction.
Meanwhile, a worker might be exposed to flames by accident (such as a blow torch), or get an arm or leg trapped in a machine and suffer broken bones. Heavy objects might fall on them, or a worker might lose their footing and fall from a partially complete building. Loose papers (to protect floors) or spilled liquids may cause such slipping hazards, and a worker might fall multiple stories and onto a hard object or surface. That can break bones or even prove fatal, and that’s where slip and fall lawyers and the like might get involved.
Outdoor workers of all sorts might also suffer from heat exhaustion or stoke if the workplace does not provide enough ways to cool off, such as providing cold water and frequent breaks. And what about other professions? Park rangers are often out in the wilds, and out there, they might slip and fall down a hill and strike rocks, trees, or fall into water, and sustain injuries. And it’s not just slip and fall cases; a park ranger might be stung or bitten by a spider, snake, or insect and suffer a serious reaction. Or, a large animal such as a bear or cougar might injure them.
Litigation
When a workplace injury does take place, litigation may soon follow. Many injured workers may turn to construction lawyers who are on hand, and these attorneys may help arrange litigation against any party that is deemed responsible for the incident. In other cases, the injured worker may look up personal injury law firms in the area, and consult the attorneys working there (this may or may not incur a fee), and hire a lawyer. This may happen due to a slip and fall case, lung disease, broken bones, burns, or anything else. Most often, litigation will be dealt with in private, and the lawyers of both sides will work out an arrangement. It is fairly rare for these cases to go all the way to court, though it has been known to happen.
A slip and fall lawyer, or personal injury lawyer, will want to know all relevant details of the case, and they may use the law to move the case forward. That, and a personal injury lawyer may also factor in the victim’s medical bills for compensation purposes. If the victim’s injuries will prevent them from performing paying work in the future, that large financial impact will be factored in as well with a lawyer’s expertise.