Risk Factors for Healthcare Workers

According to OSHA, there are a number of “workplace violence risk factors” present in healthcare work. Although OSHA notes that these factors vary by the specific healthcare setting, these “common” workplace violence risk factors may include:

• Moving and transporting patients;
• Working with patients who have a history of violence or who may be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
• Poor visibility due to inadequate workplace lighting;
• The presence of guns and firearms in the workplace;
• A high-level of healthcare worker turnover;
• Overcrowding in waiting rooms and long wait times for patients to be seen;
• Poor communication in emergency situations;
• Work in areas and neighborhoods where there is a high rate of crime;
• Unlimited access to healthcare facilities by the public;
• A public perception that “violence is tolerated and reporting incidents will have no effect”;
• Undertraining;
• Understaffing, particularly during meal times and when visitors are allowed;
• Working solo in healthcare.

In sum, there are a number of risk factors that healthcare workers face every day, making healthcare a high-risk job for workplace injuries due to violence.

Legal Justice for Injured Louisiana Workers

Healthcare workers who are injured on the job in Louisiana, like most other workers, may be entitled to important Louisiana workers’ compensation benefits to help them get back on their feet and to support them financially after they have suffered a workplace injury. Therefore, it is important for injured workers in Louisiana, in the healthcare industry and any other industry, to speak with an experienced Louisiana workers’ compensation lawyer as soon as possible after they are injured on the job.

The experienced Louisiana worker’s compensation lawyers at Lunsford Baskin & Priebe offer a free and confidential consultation to learn about your workplace injury in Louisiana and to see if they can help fight to get you workers’ compensation benefits due. Contact the experienced Louisiana workers’ compensation lawyers at Lunsford Baskin & Priebe today and speak to a lawyer about your rights and options to workers’ compensation benefits for free.

To shed light on the current picture of the safety of America’s workplaces and occupations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics produced a new report in December, 2022. The BLS report provides important and helpful insights into American workplaces and the dangers that workers face every day. One interesting data set that the BLS compiled for the public is the number of fatalities in the most dangerous occupations for workers.

The Top Dangerous Occupations in the United States – Worker Fatalities 

The occupation with the most job-related deaths in 2021 was driver/sales workers and truck driving. In the year 2020, there were 887 job-related deaths in trucking, which increased to 1,032 total job-related deaths in trucking in the year 2021. This represents a 16.3% increase in worker fatalities over the year in truck driving, making it a very dangerous job in the United States. Second to truck driving in terms of the highest number of worker fatalities is construction work. In 2021 there were 951 occupational deaths in the construction industry, representing a 2.6% drop in worker deaths since 2020, but still in the category of most dangerous occupations. Protective service occupations (including law enforcement officials, firefighters, police, and transit workers) experienced a 31.9% increase in workplace deaths in 2021, with a total of 302 deaths in 2021 and 229 deaths in 2020. Homicides, suicides, and transportation incidents topped the types of fatal events that occurred within this occupation. Finally, installation, maintenance, and repair occupations, and fishing and hunting workers also rank among the top most dangerous jobs in America, with 475 fatalities and 75.2 fatalities in 2021, respectively.

Help for Injured Louisiana Workers to Get Back on their Feet

Of course, and unfortunately, in addition to worker fatalities, there are thousands of worker injuries that occur in the United States every year, rendering workers unable to do their regular jobs and earn a living. In Louisiana, and in many states, fortunately, there are programs to help injured workers get back on their feet while they treat and heal from a workplace injury. Under Louisiana workers’ compensation laws, most Louisiana workers who are injured on the job are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, such as wage replacement benefits and medical costs. If you have been injured on the job in Louisiana, contact the experienced Louisiana workers’ compensation lawyers at Lunsford Baskin & Priebe. Contact Lunsford Baskin & Priebe today and speak to an experienced Louisiana workers’ compensation lawyer for free.

Source:

bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf

If you have questions regarding medical misdiagnosis and malpractice, contact the Mississippi medical malpractice attorneys at Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC. We offer free case evaluations so that you can understand your legal options moving forward. In this blog, we discuss common diagnostic errors, when a misdiagnosis is considered medical malpractice, and suing after a misdiagnosis. 

How Often Does Misdiagnosis Occur? 

Johns Hopkins Medicine conducted a detailed study regarding medical malpractice cases from 1986 to 2010. Out of all medical malpractice cases, misdiagnosis was the most common reason for claims, and the injuries and illnesses that were caused or made worse by misdiagnoses accounted for $38.8 billion in damages. The study also estimated that every year between 80,000 to 160,000 people suffer from serious or fatal complications due to a misdiagnosis. 

Additional medical studies indicate that misdiagnoses are one of the leading causes of serious and fatal injuries and illnesses that are preventable. 

Misdiagnoses usually occur due to a delay in the diagnosis or an issue with the testing process.

Common causes include:

• Misinterpreting the results of a diagnostic test
• Not consulting with a patient about their symptoms
• Not investigating what may be causing symptoms 
• Failing to test for a particular medical condition
• Failing to refer patients to a specialist who can treat their specific condition

There are many different types of misdiagnoses that can cause or contribute to serious or fatal injuries or illnesses. Some of these types include:

• Lymph node inflammation: Sometimes misdiagnosed as appendicitis
• Staph infection: Frequently misdiagnosed as the flu 
• Asthma: Often mistaken as bronchitis

In addition to these common misdiagnoses, three major misdiagnoses frequently lead to serious injury and death. These are:

• Cancer: Cancers that are frequently misdiagnosed include lung cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, and colon cancer. 
• Infections: People frequently suffer from misdiagnosed hospital infections including central line-associated bloodstream infections, gastrointestinal infections, soft tissue infections, and more. 
• Heart attack and other cardiovascular issues: Heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease are frequently misdiagnosed, leading to serious or fatal consequences.  

When Is a Doctor Misdiagnosis Considered Malpractice?

Although misdiagnoses occur frequently, not all misdiagnosis cases are considered medical malpractice. The diagnostic issue needs to be considered preventable, and the error needs to have harmed the patient. When evaluating whether a misdiagnosis case constitutes medical malpractice, legal professionals usually look at various indicators including:

• Whether the patient received reasonable care
• Whether the patient was harmed due to the misdiagnosis
• If the medical professional provided a proper evaluation to diagnose their patient
• If the medical professional provided or consulted with the patient about relevant diagnostic tests 
• If the diagnostic tests were executed properly
• If medical professionals interpreted the diagnostic test reasonably

A medical professional can make a mistake and misdiagnose a patient as long as they provide an acceptable level of care. They need to have provided as much care as a reasonable medical professional would in the same situation. For example, if a doctor misreads a diagnostic test but they showed proper care and interpreted the results in a way that a reasonable doctor would, courts likely wouldn’t consider the doctor’s actions medical malpractice. On the other hand, if they didn’t pay attention to their patient and misdiagnosed them as a result, they didn’t perform their duty and they could be found liable. 

Can You Sue a Doctor for Misdiagnosis in Mississippi?

You may wonder what to do if your doctor misdiagnoses you. If you suffered from harm as a result of the doctor’s misdiagnosis, you may be able to recover compensation. For example, if your doctor has you undergo damaging treatment to address your misdiagnosed condition, you may have suffered from severe harm. 

A patient could be misdiagnosed with cancer and undergo harmful chemotherapy as a result. Patients may also suffer because of delayed treatment caused by a misdiagnosis. If a doctor diagnoses a patient with a migraine but they’re actually suffering from a stroke, for example, that patient may suffer permanent damage or even death due to the misdiagnosis.  

When suing a doctor for misdiagnosis, you need to be able to prove that the doctor didn’t provide you with reasonable care, and their failure to provide care caused you harm. You also need to prove that you were their patient, they acted negligently, and their negligence directly caused injuries or illnesses or made them worse.  

Contact a Mississippi Medical Malpractice Attorney

When entering into a misdiagnosis lawsuit settlement, you may be able to recover different forms of compensation including medical bills, lost wages, loss of future earnings, physical and emotional pain and suffering, in-home care, loss of consortium, and more. 

Although you’re not required to hire a medical malpractice lawyer to file a lawsuit against a medical professional, legal experts can greatly increase your likelihood of proving your case.

Here at Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC, we’ve assisted many Mississippi residents with medical malpractice cases including lawsuits involving misdiagnosis. We’ll work to help you prove your claim, and we’ll do everything we can to maximize the amount of compensation you’ll receive for your injuries or illness. Call our Jackson office at 601-983-2667, or you can click here to schedule a free case evaluation. 

Unfortunately, despite property owners being required to maintain safe premises, accidents still happen. Luckily, if you are a visitor and are injured due to the property owner’s negligence, you have a right to file a claim to recover damages. Premises settlements in these kinds of cases can help you cover medical expenses from injuries sustained in the accident as well as other damages such as loss of wages, emotional distress, and physical pain and suffering. 

Keep in mind, however, that the total settlement amount will depend on the premises liability coverage the property owner has through their insurance policy. Premises liability insurance can help cover your damages as the injured party, but insurance companies will often look for ways to reduce settlement amounts in these cases. 

As such, it is crucial for injured victims to work with a premises liability lawyer to ensure they get the full amount they deserve. At Lunsford, Baskin, & Priebe, PLLC, our Mississippi Premises Liability Lawyers have years of experience fighting for the rights of our clients in these types of cases. We are committed to providing superior legal services and delivering quality results. 

What is Premises Liability?

Premises liability refers to the duty a property owner has to maintain reasonably safe and healthy premises. Thus, premises liability law requires property owners to uphold this duty by ensuring that their property is free of any known hazards or potential hazards that could cause a person to become injured.

However, a property owner cannot always be held responsible for every single accident that occurs on their property. Whether or not a property owner can be held liable will depend on the visitor’s purpose, how the accident happened, and if it is a matter of negligence. 

Mississippi Premises Liability, Duty of Care, and Negligence

Mississippi premises liability law requires property owners to maintain reasonably safe premises by upholding their duty of care. This means that they must keep up with repairs and maintenance, regularly inspect the property for potential hazards, and warn guests of any known or potential hazards. The term “reasonably,” however, is important. 

Property owners are not expected to be perfect and keep watch of their entire property 24/7. For example, if it starts snowing overnight, creating a slippery surface, property owners are not expected to wake up in the middle of the night to deal with this hazard. Instead, they are expected to take care of it in a reasonable amount of time. 

Furthermore, visitors take on what is known as “assumption of risk” when they visit someone else’s property. This means that you should logically understand that accidents can happen, and you are putting yourself at some degree of risk by entering another person’s property. And, if you purposely put yourself at unnecessary risk and use poor judgment, you could be to blame instead of the property owner, or you could share in the liability. 

Mississippi is a comparative negligence state, so you can potentially be found partially negligent in a premises liability case. This means that you are still eligible to file a claim, but the settlement you receive will be reduced based on your percentage of fault. So if you purposely or unnecessarily put yourself in harm’s way on someone else’s property—even if the owner also partially breached their duty of care—and you are found to be 40% at fault, your compensation will be reduced by that amount.  

Understanding the Difference Between a Trespasser, a Licensee, and an Invitee

A person’s purpose for visiting a property can also play a role in their premises liability case. For example, if you were invited or given a license to be on someone else’s property, you have more protections, but if you were trespassing, you would have a much harder time proving your case. 

• Invitee: This is a person who enters a property with expressed or implied invitation or permission. This can include being a customer at a retail establishment or place of business, a guest at a hotel or someone’s home, or someone visiting an office building for a meeting or an interview. 

• Licensee: This is someone who enters onto a property for their own benefit pursuant to their license or implied permission of the owner. For example, this could be someone who visits door-to-door as a salesperson, entering someone’s property in an attempt to make a sale. 

• Trespasser: Someone who is trespassing is thus entering onto a property without invitation, license, or another right. They enter for their own purpose without express or implied invitation and therefore are in the wrong and assume full risk. However, even a trespasser can file a claim if the property owner’s behavior was willful or wanton. 

How to Prove a Premises Liability Case

To prove your premises liability case and hold the property owner liable, you must essentially prove that they breached their duty of care. To do so, you will need to gather sufficient evidence to show that it was the property owner’s negligence, not yours, that led to the accident and your injuries. 

To specifically prove a breach of duty, you must:

1. Prove that there was a duty owed to you;
2. That the property owner breached this duty by failing to maintain reasonably safe premises free of hazards;
3. That this breach of duty was the direct cause of the accident; 
4. That your injuries and other damages were results of this accident

Again, this will also depend on your purpose for visiting the premises and whether or not you share in the blame. This is why it is crucial to work with a premises liability lawyer who can help you and ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. 

Connect with an Experienced Mississippi Premises Liability Attorney

If you need help filing a Mississippi premises liability claim and proving fault, the team at Lunsford, Baskin, & Priebe, PLLC, can assist you. We know what it takes to gather enough evidence and fight against insurance companies to ensure our clients get the full settlement they deserve. 

For a free consultation, contact one of our experienced Mississippi premises liability attorneys today. After-hours visits are available. 

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas that can poison you at work if enough of it builds up in your bloodstream. While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to meet certain standards for CO exposure and to take preventative measures to protect their employees, CO poisoning still happens. 

If you are poisoned from CO at work, you have a right to file a workers’ compensation claim to recover benefits. These benefits are available to you without the need to prove fault. Even if you know the exposure occurred as a result of your employer’s negligence, workers’ compensation was invented to protect employers from being sued. 

For this reason, it’s important to work with an attorney to ensure you get the full benefits from your workers’ compensation claim that you deserve. Even if your employer failed to provide a safe environment, you can only recover compensation through workers’ comp benefits and will likely not be eligible to file a lawsuit for further damages—unless, however, a third party is to blame. 

If you need help filing a workers’ compensation claim or have questions or concerns about liability and recovering further damages beyond what workers’ compensation provides, contact a local Louisiana workers’ compensation law firm. They can review your case and offer you guidance on how best to proceed, ensuring you get the benefits and compensation you deserve for your carbon monoxide poisoning. 

What Workers Are Most at Risk of Suffering from CO Poisoning While on the Job?

Carbon monoxide is a gas that often results from the incomplete burning of materials containing carbon. This can include gasoline, natural gas, kerosene, propane, oil, coal, and even wood. Various workplaces involve the use of machinery and equipment that run on these materials, such as blast furnaces, forges, vehicles, and internal combustion engines. This is why CO poisoning is such a problem in workplace environments and why employers must take measures to mitigate CO exposure. 

Workers who are most at risk of being exposed to carbon monoxide include:

• Welders
• Firefighters
• Mechanics
• Organic chemical synthesizers
• Longshore workers
• Forklift operators
• Diesel engine operators
• Maritime workers
• Tollbooth and parking garage attendants
• Taxi drivers or other types of rideshare drivers

Symptoms of Work-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

The danger of carbon monoxide is that it is difficult to detect without special devices because it has no odor, color, or taste. So it’s important for workers to know the signs and symptoms of potential CO poisoning so they can move to a more ventilated area and seek emergency medical attention. 

Common signs and symptoms of CO poisoning in the workplace include:

• A dull headache
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Confusion
• Shortness of breath
• Blurred vision
• Loss of consciousness

If CO poisoning happens often or is left untreated it can result in permanent brain damage, cardiac complications and heart damage, fetal death or miscarriage for expectant mothers, and death. 

How Employers Can Help Prevent Carbon Monoxide Exposure at Work

Employers are required to provide a safe and healthy workplace and to adhere to OSHA standards for CO exposure. If they fail to take preventative measures, it is your right as an injured worker to file a claim for workers’ compensation to cover your medical expenses and lost wages while you recover from CO poisoning. 

Preventative measures that employers should take according to OSHA CO guidelines include:

• Install a working ventilation system
• Stay on top of machine and equipment maintenance to reduce CO formation
• Prioritize electric, battery, or compressed air-powered tools, machinery, and equipment over gas-powered engines
• Provide carbon monoxide monitors for individual employees
• Test air quality regularly for CO levels, particularly in areas where CO is likely to be present
• Provide adequate safety gear such as a breathing apparatus and respirators to those workers most likely to be exposed to high levels of CO
• Properly train and educate workers on CO safety and possible sources of exposure

Connect with an Experienced Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you’ve been poisoned due to carbon monoxide exposure in the workplace, connect with a local Louisiana workers’ compensation attorney for assistance. Though you don’t need to prove fault to be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, it is not uncommon for insurers to deny claims or reduce benefit amounts for various reasons. So it’s helpful to have an attorney on your side who can protect your rights and ensure you are awarded the full amount you deserve. 

It is also possible that a third party could be responsible for the CO exposure. In this case, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the guilty party in addition to filing your workers’ comp claim. Understanding how to navigate these various legal processes, however, can be a challenge and you will need someone to guide you through to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible and works out to your benefit. 

For a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Louisiana, contact Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC. After-hours visits are available. 

Workers’ compensation was essentially invented to allow injured workers to recover compensation for their injuries and lost income without them having to file a lawsuit against their employer. Unfortunately, workers’ compensation benefits do not always cover all expenses and losses related to the injury. Work-related injuries can be quite severe and even life-altering, thus the injured worker may feel they deserve more money for their pain and suffering in addition to their medical bills and lost wages.

In this case, it may be necessary to consult with a team of work-related injury lawyers. Lawyers for work-related injuries can review your case and offer you guidance on how best to proceed. They will understand the ins and outs of workers’ compensation laws and if it is possible to sue your employer for additional compensation.

If you have questions about a Louisiana workers’ compensation case and are wondering whether or not you can sue your employer for a work-related injury, contact the experts at Lunsford, Baskin, & Priebe, PLLC. We work primarily with clients who become injured on the job and know when it is possible to file a lawsuit to ensure you get the highest compensation amount possible for all that you have suffered.

How Workers’ Compensation Traditionally Works

Traditionally, when employees suffer injuries from work-related accidents, they would report the incident and file a workers’ compensation claim. Workers’ compensation provides benefits in the form of coverage for medical bills and wages that are lost while the injured worker recovers. After the claim is filed and approved, it typically only takes a couple of weeks for the workers’ comp benefits to start kicking in.

However, while these benefits can provide injured workers with some financial relief, they do not generally cover all expenses. For example, the wage replacement benefits only cover a portion of the injured worker’s lost wages depending on how much they make on average. Currently, Louisiana has approved up to $743 a week. This amount in addition to the medical bill coverage does not typically cover all expenses and is only provided until the worker can return to work or has reached maximum medical improvement.

Essentially, workers’ compensation benefits are meant to cover the bare minimum and do not account for an injured worker’s total pain and suffering. If the accident is severe and leaves the worker with a permanent impairment, for example, or drastically alters the rest of their life, the benefits provided through workers’ compensation are not going to be enough.

The Exception to Workers’ Comp: Employer Negligence

If workers’ comp benefits are not enough, it may be possible to file a lawsuit against your employer to pursue additional work-related injury compensation. If your expenses and suffering go beyond what is provided by workers’ comp, you can file a lawsuit against your employer ONLY IF you can prove that their negligence caused the accident and your injuries.

Workers’ compensation courts generally try to avoid workers filing lawsuits against their employers, but if they approve and the motion to file a civil suit is not dismissed, you and your attorney will have to provide sufficient evidence to prove that your employer was at fault for causing the accident.

Proving an Employer Breached Their Duty of Care

Employers owe their workers a duty of care, or in other words, they must provide a reasonably safe environment free of known hazards. If an employer breaches this duty of care and acts negligently by not providing a safe work environment, they can be held liable in a lawsuit. To prove that an employer breached their duty of care you will need to:

1. Prove that your employer owed you a duty of care
2. Prove that your employer breached this duty
3. Prove that your employer’s breach of duty and negligence caused the accident
4. Your injuries were a direct result of the accident caused by your employer’s negligence

In some cases, you might even be able to file a lawsuit against a third party. For example, if an accident occurs due to faulty equipment, you might initially blame the employer for failing to check that the equipment was in working condition and properly maintained. However, if the faulty equipment is the result of a malfunction that was out of your employer’s control, you might instead be able to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer responsible for developing the equipment.

Either way, whether you are filing a civil suit against your employer or a third party, you will have to prove that there was a breach of duty and that the breach was the direct cause of the accident and your work-related injuries.

An Experienced Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorney Can Help

So, if you are wondering if you can sue your employer for a work-related injury, the simple answer is—yes. The complicated answer is that it is not an easy process and you will have to provide sufficient evidence to prove that your employer or even a third party acted negligently. Proving that someone owed you a duty of care is easy, but further proving how exactly they breached that duty is challenging and will require the help of a workers’ compensation attorney.

For help with a Louisiana workers’ compensation claim or a lawsuit against your employer, contact the workers’ compensation lawyers at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe, PLLC for a free consultation.

In this blog, we’ll cover what you need to know about shipyard injuries in Mississippi, and some important things to keep in mind when pursuing a claim.

Hazardous Conditions Shipyard Workers Face

Shipyard work is not a safe job. it is a dangerous environment where serious accidents can take place and cause permanent harm or even death. There are a number of hazards workers may face on a daily basis including:

• Exposure to benzene and other toxic chemicals
• Inhalation of asbestos dust and fibers from asbestos insulation products
• Slip and falls
• Electrical accidents
• Fires and explosions
• Forklift accidents
• Heavy machinery injuries
• Equipment collapses
• Ladder accidents
• Winch accidents
• Crane accidents
• Rigging accidents

Many of these accidents can lead to such severe injuries that a person may never be able to return to work. Even if the injury sustained is not permanent, it will likely require a long recovery time.

The Most Common Shipyard Accidents

Many shipyard accidents take place as maintenance is being performed on sea vessels. These duties are extremely dangerous for workers, and companies are expected to take the necessary precautions to ensure their employees’ safety, but they commonly do not. However, even when all workers take the proper safety precautions, accidents still happen. Some common reasons for these accidents include:

• Coworkers’ mistakes
• Exposure to hazardous materials
• Heat, fires, and explosions
• Mechanical failures
• Slip and falls

Keep in mind, these benefits are available on a no-fault basis, meaning you will likely be eligible for compensation even if your mistake caused the accident which led to your injury.

The Most Common Injuries in Shipyard Accidents in Mississippi

As previously stated, shipyard accidents can lead to all kinds of serious injuries. You will need to seek immediate medical attention after sustaining a shipyard injury even if your employer tries to encourage you not to, or to see a company doctor instead. Don’t forget you have the right to choose any doctor you want for medical attention and are not required to see a doctor your employer suggests. Some of the most common shipyard injuries include:

• Broken and dislocated bones
• Burns
• Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
• Crushing injuries
• Hypothermia
• Hypoxia (oxygen deprivation)
• Inhalation and exposure injuries
• Neck and back injuries
• Overexertion injuries
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Sprains, strains, and tears

Following medical attention, you should speak with an attorney as soon as possible after sustaining a shipyard injury. The steps you need to take will differ based on your specific case, as will the type of benefits you are eligible for, so don’t make a mistake that could potentially jeopardize your recovery.

Contact a Mississippi Shipyard Accident Lawyer Today

As an injured worker, you have a right to claim workers’ compensation benefits, but standing up to a denial on your own can be challenging. In our law firm, our dedicated legal team has years of experience practicing exclusively in the area of workers’ compensation law. We are prepared to take on any case and handle the task of ensuring your benefits are promptly and fully paid. This includes helping you with claim denials and appeals if necessary.

For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Mississippi, contact Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC. After-hours visits are available.

However, though new warehouse jobs are generally good for the economy, they are not necessarily ideal work environments for employees. Despite Amazon being a billion-dollar company, they are known for slacking when it comes to the health and safety of their workers.

In general, warehouse work is inherently dangerous and comes with an increased risk of injury. On a daily basis, workers perform numerous tasks that are labor-intensive and work with machinery, equipment, and materials that can put them at risk of sustaining injuries. So when an employer does not do their part to provide a healthy and safe environment, it can increase the number of incidents that occur.

If you sustain a warehouse injury while working for Amazon or any other employer, contact the workers’ compensation experts at Lunsford, Baskin, & Priebe, PLLC. We help injured workers in Louisiana and Mississippi file claims to ensure they get the full amount of benefits they need to cover the cost of medical expenses and lost wages.

Amazon is Notorious for High Workplace Injury Rates

Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce retailers in the country, growing its workforce from 33,700 to nearly 1.3 million between 2010 and 2020. Unfortunately, Amazon’s greed for money and speedy supply and demand processes places its workers under significant amounts of stress. As such, Amazon has earned itself a bad reputation for work conditions and now has the highest rate of injuries for warehouse workers.

In 2020, Amazon reported around 5.9 serious injuries for every 100 workers, which is 80% higher than serious injury rates for other warehouse employers. Additionally, Amazon workers who are injured are reported to have been forced off of work while recovering for an average of 46.3 days, which is a week longer than the recovery time for the average injured warehouse worker.

Furthermore, after a four-year analysis, results showed that Amazon warehouses were significantly more dangerous than other comparable employers, such as Walmart. Amazon’s overall injury rate of 6.5 per 100 workers is double that of Walmart’s at 3/100, and the severe injury rate was 2.5 times more.

Common Accidents and Injuries That Occur in Warehouse Settings

Warehouse workers perform a variety of tasks that put themselves at risk daily. Some of the most common warehouse related incidents and injuries include:

• Slip and falls
• Forklift accidents
• Overexertion
• Blunt force trauma
• Hazardous material exposure

Warehouse Injuries and Workers’ Compensation

Injured warehouse workers have a right to file a workers’ compensation claim when they are injured on the job. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, meaning workers are eligible no matter how the incident occurred and without the need to prove fault. However, most warehouse accidents are the result of a negligent employer failing to provide safe conditions.

If you sustain an injury on the job, workers’ compensation can help you receive benefits to cover the cost of medical expenses and lost wages. The amount of lost wages you receive will depend on how much money you typically make as well as the extent of your injury. For example, if you are only temporarily disabled and unable to work while recovering from your injury, you could be eligible to receive Temporary Total Disability benefits until your treating physician approves your return to work.

Determining how much a worker is owed both for medical and lost wage benefits can be tricky. It’s also not uncommon for workers’ comp insurers to deny benefits or have them reduced to avoid paying out too much money. This is why injured workers must consult with an experienced attorney. With an attorney on your side, insurers are less likely to take advantage and will pay you exactly what you are owed.

Connect with an Experienced Mississippi and Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you’ve been injured in a warehouse incident while working for Amazon or any other employer, our team of skilled workers’ compensation attorneys is here to help. We understand how intimidating it can be to file a claim against a major company like Amazon, but you have a right to receive workers’ compensation benefits without fear of retaliation or being fired.

It is illegal for any company to punish its employees for filing a workers’ compensation claim. You have every right to file a claim to get the benefits you need and deserve to help cover your medical expenses and lost income.

For a free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Mississippi or Louisiana, contact Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC. After-hours visits are available.

Unfortunately, despite their dangerous nature, forklifts do make transporting large, heavy items around the workplace more convenient, especially in large warehouses. For this reason, it is unlikely that employers will discontinue their use. However, both employers and their staff should take precautions and understand the dangers involved before allowing the operation of such machinery.

If you are injured in a forklift accident in the workplace, you are entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits, no matter who was at fault. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault benefit available to eligible workers without the need to prove that someone was liable or acted negligently. However, filing for workers’ comp benefits is not always easy. Working with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney can ensure you receive the full amount of benefits you deserve.

How Do Forklift Accidents Occur?

The exact nature of forklift accidents can vary depending on the individual circumstances. For example, a worker operating the forklift could become injured if they run into something, or a worker not operating the machinery could become injured from an object falling off of the forklift or from the forklift running into them. In general, whenever heavy machinery and the transport of heavy objects are involved, the risk of accident and injury goes up.

Some of the most common reasons forklift accidents occur in the workplace include:

• Lack of training: When an employer fails to adequately train employees how to use machinery and equipment, such as forklifts, it can lead to workplace accidents.
• Reckless forklift operation: Workers who act negligently of their own accord, such as using high forklift speeds, failing to watch where they are going, or failing to communicate to other workers around them, can cause accidents. Often, this is still the result of a lack of proper training and guidance from supervisors.
• Lack of signage: Workplace environments that use heavy and dangerous equipment should have proper signage throughout to warn and alert all workers to the presence of dangerous equipment, such as forklifts. A lack of necessary signage can cause accidents with these vehicles to occur.
• Improper loading: If materials and other items are not properly loaded and secured onto the forklift platform, they can fall off while in transport and injure someone.
• Poor workplace design: If a workplace is not properly set up or structured to accommodate the safe operation of a forklift, it can lead to an accident. For example, cluttered workspace or warehouses with narrow aisles and pathways can make it difficult to maneuver machinery around.
• Malfunctions and lack of maintenance: If a forklift experiences a defect or a malfunction, or if an employer fails to keep up with forklift maintenance, it can cause the operator to lose control and cause an accident.

Common Injuries That Result From Forklift Accidents

Though the injuries sustained in a forklift accident can vary, they tend to be severe and even fatal. For this reason, it is imperative that injured workers file for workers’ compensation benefits and work with an attorney to ensure their benefits are fully and promptly paid. Severe forklift-related injuries often require expensive medical treatments and time off of work. The more permanent and severe injuries may even result in the inability to ever return to work and earn an income.

Common forklift injuries include:

• Neck and back injuries
• Head injuries and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Spinal cord injuries
• Paralysis
• Bruises
• Lacerations
• Fractured bones
• Crushed limbs
• Amputations
• Damage to internal organs
• Internal bleeding
• Permanent impairments
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Death

Connect with an Experienced Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Forklift accidents can be devastating. The injuries that follow can leave you temporarily or even permanently disabled, drastically altering your quality of life. Furthermore, the treatments required can be expensive, and you may miss extended periods from work or never be able to work again. In these situations, working with an attorney is often best to ensure you are awarded the full amount of benefits you need and deserve to recover and move on.

At Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC, our attorneys have years of experience dealing with traumatic workplace injury cases such as those involving forklifts. We are dedicated and determined to help injured workers get the compensation they deserve.

For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Louisiana, contact Lunsford, Baskin, and Priebe, PLLC.