Warehouse Injury Attorney

When you visualize a California warehouse, you likely include massive rack systems and equipment used to move pallets of materials. The floors are often polished concrete, and aisles are wide enough to accommodate pallet jacks and many workers. However, the tiny things that are easily overlooked frequently result in the most injuries in a warehouse. So workers must remain focused and watch for both large and small safety hazards to avoid injury due to any of these common warehouse mishaps or hazards:

• Slip and fall incidents due to water leaking onto floors from damaged pipes or mechanical devices, oil dripping from forklifts, or a roof leak that allows water to dip onto the floors
• Trip and fall injuries because of merchandise or tools left on the floor, cracked or damaged flooring surface, or pallets left protruding into the walkways
• Injuries from falling objects are common when inventory is poorly stacked, the pallets on upper shelving are not placed correctly, or lighting or signage hanging from the ceiling falls on an employee
• Vehicle versus pedestrian incidents can happen when equipment operators or drivers are not paying attention and hit a pedestrian
• An electric shock or even fatal electrocution can occur when electrical wires or components are damaged but not properly repaired
• Contact burns due to overheated equipment or improper placement of inventory that result in combustion and a fire

Sadly, some of these issues are preventable, while others occur as genuine accidents that could not be predicted. But the constant in all of these warehouse injuries is that the victim has the right to seek medical care for the injuries they sustained on the job and open a worker’s comp case to help cover their losses and expenses.

When you think about getting hurt at work, your thoughts might turn to minor harm like scrapes and bruises. But those are the best-case scenarios, which are less common than more serious injuries. Due to the setting inside a warehouse, workers often suffer severe harm in these workplace injury incidents that can include one or more of the following:

• Fractured, broken, or shattered bones
• Damage or destruction of the soft connective tissue of the joints or complete joint dislocations
• Severe lacerations or puncture wounds that include damage to internal organs and internal bleeding
• Back, neck, and spinal cord damage
• Injuries to the delicate facial skin, eyes, ears, nose and mouth
• Partial or complete amputations
• Compression or crushing injuries
• Soft tissue and nerve damage
• Head injuries ranging from a severe concussion or skull fracture to a brain bleed or other traumatic brain injury

If you suffer any warehouse injury incident, get a complete medical evaluation to ensure any harm is correctly and quickly diagnosed and begin treatment immediately. This is the best way to provide the most favorable prognosis for your future.

Many hurt warehouse workers are confused about worker’s compensation coverage and how they are eligible for benefits. They have never paid for the coverage and think the program does not apply to them. However, they are mistaken. California worker’s compensation is a program that all employers in the state are legally required to participate in and pay for to cover their employees. So, when you get hurt working in a warehouse, you have the peace of mind of knowing you will get the medical care you need and other assistance to overcome the issues caused by this unfortunate injury incident.

Victims of a warehouse injury incident are often distraught at the thought of costly medical care and their lost income if they cannot return to work immediately. To help eliminate these worrisome issues and provide peace of mind for injured workers, the California worker’s comp program offers many benefits that include:

• Complete coverage for all medical expenses related to your workplace injuries up to a total of $1M per injury incident – typically, the medical care providers will bill their services directly to worker’s compensation, and you are not required to make any co-pays or cover any deductible
• Payment of up to 66% of your regular weekly income if you are unable to work while you recover from your warehouse injuries – these funds are paid to you to help cover your routine living expenses like food and rent
• Partial or permanent disability payments if the injuries you sustain in the warehouse result in a physical limitation that will decrease or eliminate your future earning potential
• If the injuries you suffer in the warehouse prevent you from ever returning to that job, you can receive free vocational training to help you secure a new career after your recovery is completed

In most cases, an injured employee is not permitted to sue their employer for harm suffered on the job. They are limited to using the benefits provided by worker’s comp to cover their losses and expenses. However, if the employer’s gross negligence caused or contributed to your warehouse injuries, you might have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit. Gross negligence by an employer is defined as the employer having complete disregard for the safety of workers, which results in an injury.

For example, you and other employees might have discovered an unsafe or damaged rack system in the warehouse and reported it to the management and owner. Then, the owner failed to repair the damage and required staff to continue using it even though it was unsafe. If a worker suffered an injury because the damaged rack system failed, they could have grounds for a lawsuit due to the negligence of the owner in repairing the known safety hazard. Please reach out to DTLA Law Group if you believe that gross negligence could have been a factor in your warehouse injury incident.

An injured warehouse worker has only 30 days from the date of their injuries to open a claim with worker’s compensation. If they wait longer than 30 days to attempt to open a claim, it will be immediately denied, and they will receive no benefits from the program. If you have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit against your employer, you have two years from the date of the injuries to file your claim with the court. Much like your worker’s comp deadline to take action, if you wait longer than two years to file a lawsuit, the case will be rejected by the court as the time limit has expired.

When you hire DTLA Law Group, we never ask for any payment upfront. Instead, we only get paid after the case is resolved, and you have the compensation needed to cover your legal costs and other expenses. In addition, if the DTLA Law Group warehouse injury attorneys fail to win your case and deliver the compensation you need, you owe the firm nothing for its time and investment in preparing the case. Please reach out to our office staff immediately to learn more about these crucial opportunities.

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