Burns are among the most painful, debilitating, and disfiguring injuries an individual can suffer. Even relatively minor burns cause severe pain, but serious burn injuries like second, third, and fourth-degree burns can cause permanent physical and emotional trauma, especially if they cover a significant portion of the burn victim’s body or leave substantial scars and disfigurement on their face.
The trauma is even more devastating when someone else’s actions cause the burns. Serious burns can occur in car accidents, explosions, electrocutions, and many other ways, but the places where you’re most likely to suffer burn injuries in Colorado might surprise you. Contact our Westminster burn injury lawyer for legal advice on your unique case.
Burn Injuries Are Most Common at Home
Studies in other countries show around 80-90% of burn injuries occur in the home, but in the United States, home burn injuries make up only about 55% of total annual burns. Burn injuries occur at home due to the following common causes:
- Structure fires in homes or apartments
- Kitchen/cooking fires
- Hot water scalds
- Burns from direct contact with hot surfaces
- Accidental electrocution
Children and the elderly have the highest instances of serious burn injuries occurring at home. In some cases, a lawsuit against a negligent apartment building owner or rental agency, or a claim against a manufacturer for a defective product burn can recover compensation for damages like medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering after preventable burns occur in the home.
Burn Injuries In the Workplace Have Increased In the U.S.
An estimated 45% of burns in the U.S. happen in the workplace, including in Colorado. Workplace injuries are a significant problem in many industries, including the construction industry, industrial plants, oil refineries, and restaurant kitchens, but they can happen in any work setting. Common causes of workplace burns include the following:
- Explosions
- Building fires
- Hot water, hot liquid, or steam scalds
- Radiation burns
- Exposure to caustic chemicals
- Gasoline or oil fires
- Defective equipment burns
When burns occur in the workplace, the injury victim may be able to recover compensation for their medical expenses and lost wages through a workers’ compensation claim or a third-party lawsuit against a contractor, the manufacturer of a defective product, or a negligent property owner.
What Are the Advantages of a Third-Party Lawsuit Over a Workers’ Compensation Claim for Burns?
Workers’ compensation insurance shields employers from lawsuits at the same time that it protects accident victims from income loss and other expenses after a work injury. Unfortunately, workers’ compensation doesn’t allow compensation for pain and suffering or other non-economic damages.
Pain and suffering are significant in burn injury victims, as are disfigurement and disability in severe burn cases. A third-party lawsuit allows an injury victim to claim pain and suffering and other non-economic damages like disfigurement, scarring, diminished quality of life, and PTSD.
What Should I Do After Burn Injuries At Work?
It’s critical to seek emergency treatment after any burn injury, including one that occurs in the workplace. It’s also helpful to ask an uninjured person to take photos of the cause of the burns if you have sufficient presence of mind to take purposeful action while awaiting an ambulance or transportation to a hospital.
Be sure to report the injury to your employer in writing and ask for a copy of the accident report. At the hospital, ask for a detailed medical report and follow through on all of your doctor’s treatment recommendations. Finally, hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer helps burn victims recover the maximum compensation available to them in an injury claim or lawsuit. Contact our Westminster burn injury attorneys at Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C. for legal help today.