Machine Tool Accidents

Companies that shape and form parts and tools made of metal and other hard materials often require their employees to use grinders, lathes, millers, and other machine tools. Machine and metalworking shops often present a higher risk of harm than other workplaces, and when machine tool accidents occur, they often cause devastating injuries. If you suffered damages in a machine tool accident, you could be owed workers’ compensation benefits as well as have a third-party lawsuit, and it is in your best interest to talk to an attorney about your rights. Valerie Crown of The Law Firm of Valerie J. Crown, Attorney at Law, P.C., is a skilled Rockland County workers’ compensation and personal injury lawyer who has ample experience helping people injured in catastrophic workplace accidents in the pursuit of justice, and if you engage her services, she can aid you in pursuing the maximum benefits recoverable for your losses. Ms. Crown frequently helps people pursue workers’ compensation claims and third-party lawsuits in Rockland, Westchester, Orange, Dutchess, and Ulster Counties and in the greater metropolitan area.

Machine tools like turning machines, planers, shapers, drills, and milling and grinding machines use force and sharp parts to cut and mold metal, wood, and other rigid substances. They must be used with great care, as even seemingly insignificant errors and oversights can cause accidents. Causes of machine tool accidents include inadequate training or warnings, defective machines, and improper use. Irrespective of the cause, machine tools accidents usually cause cataclysmic harm, like crush and amputation injuries, traumatic brain injuries, fractures, and hemorrhaging. Employees that use machine tools on a regular basis may also suffer repetitive use injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

People hurt in machine tool accidents typically require costly medical care and no longer have the ability to earn an income. Fortunately, in many instances, they can recover workers’ compensation benefits to help offset some of their financial harm. The injury must occur during the course and scope of their employment. In other words, the harm in question must happen while they are performing job duties or work-related activities.

Employees, injured in machine tool accidents, may be able to recover medical and disability benefits. Medical benefits can include surgery, hospitalization, physical and occupational therapy, assistive devices, and other care that is deemed necessary. Employees usually need to be treated by health care providers approved to care for injured employees by the Workers’ Compensation Board (the Board). Further, the treatment rendered must comply with the Medical Treatment Guidelines set forth by the Board. The employer or its insurer may ask the employee to submit to an evaluation with a medical examiner of the employer’s/insurer’s choice to determine the extent and permanence of the employee’s injuries.

Employees, who cannot work for seven or more days or who sustain a reduction in income because they have to work fewer hours or alter their job duties due to their injury, can recover disability benefits. Disability benefits may be paid for temporary and partial, temporary and total, permanent and partial, or permanent and total impairments. Temporary partial disabilities prevent employees from performing all of their job duties, but only for a limited time, while permanent partial disabilities cause the permanent loss of the ability to earn an income. Likewise, a temporary total disability renders an employee unable to work at all for a certain period of time, while a permanent total disability causes a complete and lasting inability to work. Numerous factors are weighed in determining what disability benefits injured employees are owed, including the degree to which they are disabled, statutory limits, and their average weekly wage before the accident.

The New York Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act) bars employees from pursuing civil claims against their employers for work-related harm. However, employees, hurt at work, can pursue civil claims against parties other than their employer if such parties contributed to or caused their harm. For example, they may be able to assert product liability claims against the parties that manufactured and sold the defective machine that led to their harmful accident.

Accidents, involving machine tools, frequently cause life-altering losses, and people injured in such incidents can often recover workers’ compensation benefits as well as money damages from a third-party lawsuit. If you were hurt in a machine tool accident while working, it is prudent to talk to an attorney about your options. Valerie Crown, of The Law Firm of Valerie J. Crown, Attorney at Law, P.C., is an experienced workers’ compensation and personal injury attorney, and if you sustained injuries in a machine tool accident, she will work tirelessly to help you pursue the full benefits available to you. Ms. Crown has an office in New York, and she frequently represents people in workers’ compensation claims and personal injury lawsuits in Rockland, Westchester, Orange, Dutchess, and Ulster Counties and in the greater metropolitan area. You can reach Ms. Crown via the online form or by calling 845-708-5900 (office number) or 845-598-8253 (Valerie’s direct cellphone 24/7).