Workplace Injury

In America, employees have a right to a safe, controlled work environment, and their employers have a responsibility to make sure their workers are trained, educated, and placed in non-hazardous work spaces. There are many laws surrounding unsafe work environments, but even with this legislation in place, many workers still complain of unsafe conditions, outdated or malfunctioning equipment, and a lack of personal protection equipment. As a result of these deficiencies, many American workers suffer from workplace injuries that are entirely not their fault.

FREE CASE EVALUATION

Workplace Injury

Depending on your job, you may be able to utilize workers’ compensation insurance to pay for your medical expenses as well as some of the income you lost by not being able to work. However, in many cases, workers’ comp is not enough to cover the entirety of your expenses, and in some cases, workers’ comp is non-applicable. When this happens, it may be time for you to file a workplace injury claim and fight for your right to compensation.

Serving Houston, San Antonio, and their surrounding areas, the Pusch & Nguyen Law Firm has helped many Texans receive hefty settlement amounts and damage recoveries after experiencing a workplace injury. Our team of professionals is committed to fighting for the blue-collar workers who are simply trying to provide for themselves and their loved ones, and we promise not to back down from the multi-million corporations who seek to cheat you out of what is rightfully yours. For more information on how we can help, contact us today at 210-702-3000 to schedule your free consultation.

Overview of Workplace Injury in San Antonio

Types of Workplace Injuries
What is Workers’ Comp Insurance?
How to File a Workplace Injury Complaint

Types of Workplace Injuries

Chemical Plant Explosions

Petrochemical plant workers can easily find themselves in a world of pain if even the smallest things go wrong at their job. Chemical plants contain highly combustible equipment and substances, and when you couple this with high-powered tools such as heat exchangers, tank cars, pipelines, and tanker trucks, you may find yourself in harm’s way when you least expect it. Chemical plant explosions can result in third-degree burns, loss of arms/legs, and even death.

Offshore Injuries

Maritime injury can be extremely frightening. If you or a loved one works at sea, you are probably passionate about the waters and love swimming, surfing, an boating in your free time. However, any sort of offshore accident can cause catastrophic injuries. Offshore oil rigs are very much at risk of spontaneous combustion and explosion, and most of this injury risk is a direct result of human error. Far too often, corporations and workplace supervisors are failing to properly protect their employees from danger by forgoing equipment maintenance and replacement. Poorly maintained pipelines, slippery decks, and a lack of personal protection equipment can all contribute to potentially deadly circumstances that can kill an entire crew of harbor workers.

Construction Accidents

Construction is a necessary industry if we hope to keep our residential and commercial communities safe and up-to-date. Unfortunately, construction workers repeatedly find themselves in harm’s way at their place of work. A study revealed that over 60% of construction workers in today’s America do not receive adequate safety training, and the Lone Star State has a higher fatality rate for construction accidents than any other state in America.

The vast majority of construction accident deaths are caused by falls. At times, construction workers may be asked to suspend themselves multiple stories high in order to complete a project. However, in many cases, the construction site has failed to utilize the necessary fall prevention equipment that can potentially save lives.

In addition to this, basic training and protective equipment usage can sometimes fall to the wayside. Construction workers are supposed to be trained to avoid standing under heavy objects, tools, and cranes, but unfortunately, this situation accounts for over 8% of all construction deaths in Texas every year.

What is Workers’ Comp Insurance?

In the state of Texas, worker’s compensation insurance allows employees to receive benefits that help them stay afloat if they have suffered an injury or illness as a result of their employment. This type of insurance also helps employers avoid the hefty costs and responsibilities of having to pay out of pocket each and every time one of their workers gets hurt. Workers’ comp provides them with a defense against claims of contributory negligence, co-worker negligence, and assumption of risk.

Workers’ comp will vary from job to job, but in general, this insurance will partially cover a hurt employee’s lost wages (income benefits), medicine and/or medical treatment (medical benefits), death benefits, and legal benefits.

How to File a Workplace Injury Complaint

Successfully filing a workplace injury complaint starts with hiring the right personal injury lawyer. If you are in the market for an attorney who can help you navigate this strenuous process, make sure they have experience successfully going to trial for workplace injury claims. Regardless of how experienced a lawyer is or how high their “win percentage” is, you are doing yourself a disservice if you choose to hire them without first analyzing their relevant experience.

Quality workplace injury attorneys have a network of professionals who assist them in investigating your workplace injury. Today’s lawyers typically involve the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) if the workplace accident involves employee hospitalization or death. Lawyers and their investigators will also conduct interviews with on-site Safety Mangers to determine whether safety protocols were put in place and strictly followed on a day-to-day basis.

A quality attorney will work with you to understand your unique situation, set reasonable expectations, and then begin drafting your lawsuit. Once you and your lawyer file your complaint in court and serve your defendant (in most cases, your employer) with papers, you will typically have to wait for them to answer the complaint before moving forward with the case. Once you and your attorney attend the initial hearing, it will be time to gather your witnesses, evidence, and documents in preparation for trial.

Note: In some cases, you may be able to receive a settlement and avoid the trial process. However, American employers are notorious for lowballing their employees with settlement amounts in an attempt to simply make their problems “go away”. As a blue-collar worker, you may be tempted to take this lump sum of money and be on your merry way, but if you have a quality attorney, they will be able to let you know if this is a fair amount. If they feel as though you deserve a higher amount of compensation, it is typically wise to follow their lead and allow your case to go to trial.

Pusch & Nguyen | San Antonio Workplace Injury Lawyers

If you have been hurt in a workplace injury, you owe it to yourself to do what it takes to recover from your damages. Even if you have been tenured at your company for decades, you may find that they are quick to blame you for your injuries and unwilling to accommodate you during your recovery. Company loyalty sounds good in theory, but many employers are quick to turn their back on their workers once they realize they may be at risk of losing a workplace injury lawsuit.

At the Pusch & Nguyen Law Firm, we understand how devastating it can be for the average citizen to experience a sudden injury that not only puts them out of work for lengthy amounts of them, but also creates expensive medical bills. Our experienced litigation team is led by two experienced trial lawyers who fight extremely hard on behalf of our Houston and San Antonio clients, and we’re ready to help you build your workplace injury case. For more information on how we can help, contact us today at 210-702-3000 to schedule a free consultation with one of our legal experts.

WHY Pusch & Nguyen Law Firm

IS DIFFERENT

Our aggressive legal team work together seamlessly for the benefit of our clients. Whether your goal is to settle your case as quickly as possible or fight for maximum compensation, even if that means a court date, we can help make the process as easy and painless as possible.

Our clients praise us for keeping them updated about their cases, communicating openly and honestly, and getting results. With Pusch and Nguyen in your corner, you’ll feel confident and assured in the face of serious injuries and hefty medical bills.