Of the types of injuries that can occur, severe burn injuries are among the most painful and expensive. While minor burns typically recover on their own, severe burns frequently require at least one reconstructive operation to address disfigurement or nerve damage. If someone else’s negligent behavior caused you to get burned, California law enables you to file a personal injury suit to collect damages after your injury.
A San Jose burn injury attorney at Suits Litigation Inc can help their clients recover the compensation they deserve after receiving burn injuries from someone else’s negligence.
Why Hire a Burn Injury Attorney?
If someone else’s negligence caused your burn injury, you will need the counsel of a knowledgeable personal injury attorney. An experienced burn injury lawyer will fight for the compensation you are entitled to for your burn injuries.
The next step is to gather evidence to support the allegations against the person or people who caused the harm if the burn sufferer wishes to pursue the case. Common causes of factual discrepancies include the type of burn-related injuries, the cause of the accident, and the effectiveness of any safety measures put in place to prevent burns. The outcome of the claim depends on how these objections are answered in the victim’s favor.
In order to defend your legal rights and obtain the most equitable and just financial recompense, a team of attorneys will typically battle on your behalf alongside healthcare professionals, insurance providers, and other significant parties.
An experienced burn injury attorney is aware of how to make the strongest arguments to win the victim’s case. They will take all necessary aggressive steps to secure the just recompense for you.
Common Causes of Burn Injuries
The burn victim, or someone acting on their behalf, must disclose the cause of the burn to the physician in order to obtain appropriate burn care. Burns are most commonly caused by sunlight, heat, radiation, chemicals, and electricity, among other things. Some of the most frequent causes of burns include the following:
Fires
A deadly fire can start from a variety of sources, including electrical shorts, cigars and cigarettes, fatal car accidents, frequent car collisions, unattended campfires, and spontaneous combustion. Gasoline and other flammable liquids feed the flames and can ignite powerful and dangerous explosions. If anyone survives the disaster at all, they will likely have suffered severe and catastrophic burns as a result of becoming trapped and being unable to safely escape a building fire, a car fire, or a wildfire.
Chemicals
Every day, many individuals come into contact with harsh chemicals when cleaning or performing duties at home or at work. In addition to being bad for the lungs, corrosive and poisonous chemicals can cause painful chemical burns when they come into contact with skin. Typical offenders that erode the skin and cause burns include battery acid, bleach, chlorine, ammonia, denture cleansers, and whitening toothpaste.
Medical Treatment
In the medical field, radiation is used to treat cancer patients; it can reduce or even eradicate some malignancies. Although it is less common, radiation is also used to treat thyroid disorders, blood problems, and other types of cancer. For people who require x-rays or other diagnostic imaging, radiation is also a concern. Skin and other internal tissues may become harmed when a person’s body is exposed to too much radiation.
Electrocution
Electricity presents a burn danger for a lot of folks. Careless electrical work and unsecured wires have the potential to create a fire, and direct contact can electrocute someone. Unprotected outlets may cause harm to young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, electrical injuries can be divided into four groups: (1) flash injuries, (2) flame injuries, (3) lightning injuries, and (4) electricity traveling through the body.
Fires and Burn Injuries While Working
Even after a fire has been put out, workers are still at risk. According to California Code, employers that do cleanup and other work in places damaged or destroyed by fire are expected to recognize and assess these risks, address any unsafe or unhealthy situations, and give personnel training and instructions.
The workplace is home to a number of burn-causing factors. Burns in the workplace can result from contact with heated objects, being scalded, being exposed to chemicals, being exposed to electricity, or being exposed to prolonged flames.
It’s critical to identify the burn’s origin. The nature and course of the treatment can be greatly influenced by the type of burn. Fire burns, scald burns, chemical burns, electrical burns, and contact burns all entail various injury patterns and characteristics. As a result, the type and extent of treatment may change based on the burn.
Who is Responsible for a Burn Injury?
According to your location at the time of your burn injury, you might be able to make a premises liability claim. The term “premises liability” describes a property owner’s obligation to keep you safe while you are on their premises. It is possible to sue the owner for your injuries if they were negligent in their duty.
Businesses
Customers should always be treated with the highest duty of care by business owners and management. Customers and browsers are referred to as “invitees” in legalese. As a result, business owners owe the highest duty of care to visitors, which requires them to locate and, if possible, fix any hazards that could harm customers. If these hazards were known or should have been known, then the business owner is liable and can face charges.
Homeowners
Legally speaking, “licensees” are social guests of private homes. Therefore, you are a licensee of that property while you spend the day playing video games at your friend’s house. In these situations, homeowners are less liable for the visits than are owners of businesses. Every so often, a business owner must look over their property for anything that can pose a risk. Although they are not required to, homeowners should alert you to any dangers in the house.
Homeowners do not owe the duty to inspect the home of hazards, but if they know of a hazard, then they must make their social guests aware of these hazards and their potential harms.
Employer
If a burn occurs at work, the employer or employee is typically responsible. However, in California, there are only rare circumstances that allow employees to bring a lawsuit against the employer or other co-worker. The reason for this is because of workers’ compensation insurance that the employer likely holds.
Filing a Lawsuit After Sustaining a Burn Injury
A lawsuit to recover damages might be an option if the burn injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence and not while the victim was at work.
You normally won’t be able to receive compensation for a minor burn that you treated on your own, even if it was someone else’s fault. A personal injury lawsuit is filed to put the plaintiff back in the position they were in before a terrible accident. If you incur expenses like medical bills, lost pay, and other charges, you might be entitled to compensation. However, bringing a lawsuit would not be a wise move if you do not require medical care or any other form of rehabilitation.
The plaintiff in a burn injury claim must demonstrate that another party’s negligence led to their injuries. This can be accomplished by demonstrating that the defendant owed the burn victim a duty, that obligation was broken, and that the plaintiff’s injuries or damages were directly caused by the defendant’s breach of that duty.
Additionally, gathering all available information to support the plaintiff’s claim for damages is crucial before initiating a case. It is simple to demonstrate damages for medical expenses and missed wages using receipts and pay stubs. However, when requesting compensation for pain and suffering, this often cannot be supported by any receipts. At this point, an expert personal injury lawyer can offer their legal counsel on how much compensation you should want.
Workers’ Compensation Claim After a Work Burn Injury
California law requires all businesses to hold workers’ compensation insurance. Even businesses with just one employee must provide workers’ compensation coverage in California. Even if the company has its headquarters in another state, California law requires business owners to have workers’ compensation insurance for personnel who frequently work there.
Employers must pay for workers’ compensation payments if one of their employees becomes ill or injured at work. Basic benefits offered by workers’ compensation insurance include health care, temporary and permanent disability benefits, supplemental job displacement benefits, a return-to-work supplement, and death benefits.
Many workers are subjected to hazardous situations at work that can cause severe or deadly burns. Workers’ compensation cases in California do not need to provide evidence of your employer’s negligence. You could be entitled to compensation even if you contributed in part to your accident. Therefore, if the burn occurred at work and during regular business hours, regardless of how it occurred, the employee may submit a claim for workers’ compensation coverage.
Burn Injury Facts and Statistics
According to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States, more than 5,000 people are admitted to hospitals each year as a result of getting burned at work. The American Burn Association estimates that each year, almost 500,000 people experience major burn injuries that require medical care. An estimated 40,000 injured patients, including 30,000 at burn centers, need to be hospitalized for at least a short time.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, treating burns and fire-related injuries in the US costs $7.5 billion yearly. They rank third among the causes of fatal injuries in the home.
Nearly 11 million people worldwide suffer from burns that require medical attention on a regular basis. Females are also more likely than males to suffer life-threatening burns, according to data from the World Health Organization.
Types of Burn Injuries
It is crucial to have more information about the types and degrees of burn injuries in order to comprehend their severity. Chemical, heat/fire, and electrical burns are the three basic categories of burns.
When a corrosive substance, such as acids, bases, or oxidizers, comes into contact with soft tissue, chemical burns result to the skin, eyes, ears, or lungs.
Contact with fire, steam, and hot liquids like water or grease, as well as touching hot pipes or engines, can result in heat or thermal burns.
Direct contact with an AC or DC current in a live electrical socket or cable, falling into electrified water, or a lightning strike can all result in electrical burns.
Degree of Burn Injuries
When seeking medical health after a burn, the doctors will classify the burn with a specific degree. The degree will dictate how they treat the burn because some burns require more delicate attention or a different course of action if they severed the nerve endings.
The mildest burns are those of the first degree. Examples include sunburns, which, while still unpleasant, only affect the top layer of skin and usually subside within a few days.
The skin’s dermis and epidermis, the two outermost layers, are affected by second-degree burns. Depending on where the burn was on the body, there is intense pain, blistering, and perhaps even a need for a skin graft.
Third-degree burns are exceedingly painful because they severely injure the skin’s surface layers, underlying tissue, and nerves. They may also be disfiguring and take a long time to recover from.
Burns of the fourth degree are serious, perhaps fatal, burns that penetrate further into the muscles, tendons, and bones. Fourth-degree burns frequently result in the entire loss of function of the damaged bodily parts, even if they are not deadly.
Hiring a San Jose Burn Injury Attorney
Burn injuries are frequently the result of someone else’s irresponsibility, and the victim may not even be aware of the violation. Failure to maintain a certain water temperature or improper warning of hot surfaces might result in burns. Burn injury attorneys with experience in your situation will review your situation and advise you on the best line of action in San Jose, California.
The burn injury lawyer at Suits Litigation Inc will be there to assist every client, whether they were injured in a public place, a private residence, or at work. There are recovery options available to all burn victims, and a knowledgeable burn injury attorney will help to alleviate some stress and handle your claim. Contact the San Jose burn injury lawyers at Suits Litigation for a free consultation.