American workers are electrocuted on the job and experiencing work-related fatalities by increasing numbers, according to the Burn Survivor Resource Center. Contact with overhead power lines accounts for about two-fifths of fatal electrocutions.
Chemical burns occur when the skin is in contact with strong acids or alkalids. The chemical will continue to “eat” away the skin and its deeper layers until it’s washed away. Common chemicals found both in the home and at the workplace include bleach, boric acid, paint thinner, and plumbing decloggers.
Building fires kill more Americans than all natural disasters combined, with smoke as the most significant cause of death, injury, and property loss in these fires. America has a spotted past regarding workplace fires, the most notorious being the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City. Almost 150 women and young girls died in 1911 because of locked fire exits and poor fire extinguishing systems.
Thermal burns are the most common type of burn. They result from contact with steam, flames, flash, and hot surfaces or hot liquids with a temperature above 115 degrees F. If you’ve been burned by boiling water, you’ve been burned with a substance that’s 212 degrees F. or more.
In fact, scald injury accounts for two-thirds of all visits to hospital emergency rooms and more than one-third of all admissions to burn centers, according to the New York State Department of Heath. Overly hot water is especially harmful for young children because their skin is thinner than adults’.
While many burns occur in the home, victims are commonly burned in the workplace as well. Asphalt tar burns, for example, can be sustained by roofers, road repair workers, and construction workers. The hands are the most common workplace burn injury.
Many workers are at constant risk for burns and electrocutions, such as welders and flame-cutters, electricians, chemical technicians, oil refinery workers, aircraft mechanics, telephone installers, industrial plant workers, painters, railroad workers, boilermakers, and many others in at-risk industries.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires companies to comply with fire safety standards and make avoiding burns and electrocutions as easy as possible for their workers.
If you’ve suffered burns in the workplace or elsewhere, you could be entitled to compensation. Set an appointment today and let Ted Machi & Associates evaluate your claim.
Posted in Personal Injury
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