Electrocutions on the Job Site
If you were seriously burned or lost a loved one due to an electrocution accident, it is important to seek legal help at once. At Cannon & Dunphy, our team of Milwaukee personal injury lawyers aims to recover the maximum in damages in these cases. Our Milwaukee job site electrocution attorneys can fully investigate the facts to determine how to best move forward with legal action.
Any accident that involves electricity poses the risk of severe, disfiguring burns or death. Electrocution accidents occur far too often. In fact, electrocution is listed as number three on OSHA’s “Fatal Four” list of the four leading causes of construction accident fatalities.
In the most recently reported year, the United States Department of Labor revealed that the third most common cause of death was electrocution, with 82 workers losing their lives in that year as result of contact with live electrical wires or cables. According to OSHA, about five workers are electrocuted every week. It requires very little electricity to cause severe injuries. The primary causes of this staggering number of injuries are:
- Contact with overhead power lines
- Contact with live electrical circuits in panels
- Cords and tools that have been poorly maintained
Types of Injuries: Electrical
Contact with live electrical energy can lead to extremely serious injuries, including:
- Falls
- Disfiguring burns
- Electrocution leading to death
Workers’ Compensation and Electrocution Accidents in Milwaukee
While all construction companies with three or more workers are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance, the benefits provided under the Worker’s Compensation Act can often be far too low to make ends meet when injuries or deaths occur. There is a maximum weekly amount that will be paid when workers are off of work due to electrocution injuries, as well as a maximum death benefit amount to a surviving spouse or minor children for the death of a worker as a result of electrocution.
Where electrocution injuries occur through no one’s fault, or through the fault of an employer or a co-worker, worker’s compensation is the exclusive remedy. However, where a third party, that is, someone other than an employer or a co-worker, may have been at fault in causing an electrocution incident, a claim may also be brought outside of worker’s compensation to recover additional compensation for resulting injuries and damages.
For that reason, where it appears that a third party may be responsible for the injuries or death, it is important to hire an experienced Milwaukee job site electrocution lawyer at Cannon & Dunphy S.C. immediately to investigate the potential third-party claim.
Proving Liability in Electrocution Cases
An electrocution accident may have occurred due to the actions of a third party, whether a sub-contractor, utility provider, or equipment manufacturer. The first step is a thorough investigation of the factors and actions that contributed to the electrocution accident. This action will allow us to determine whether a third-party lawsuit could be filed to recover a fair level of compensation. Our team of Milwaukee job site electrocution lawyers will seek out all other possible liable parties to pursue just compensation for such a tragic loss.
Why Do You Need a Lawyer?
An electrocution occurring on a job site will often leave the injured worker and his or her family in a terrible emotional and financial situation. A worker who survives may face a future impaired, with burns covering a large portion of the body. Often, the burn injuries resulting from these accidents are permanently disfiguring. The ability to work and provide income for the family may be lost forever. The injured person is often hospitalized in a burn unit and will require extensive care and treatment to attempt to restore motion and/or achieve a more acceptable appearance.
When serious burn injuries result, the rights and interests of the injured person must be protected, which requires investigating and pursuing every form of compensation possible. Contact a Milwaukee job site electrocution lawyer for help.
Get Help from a Cannon & Dunphy Job Site Electrocution Lawyer in Milwaukee
If you have been or your loved one has been seriously burned, or if your loved one has died because of an electrocution accident, contact Cannon & Dunphy S.C. in Milwaukee at once. We charge no fees unless we are successful and have recovered over $1 billion in damages to date. You can trust our trial lawyers to go the distance in seeking full compensation from every possible source. Call today.