Houston work injury attorneys: The dangers of on-the-job electrical fires and burns exist for many contractors, repairmen, and other workers on a daily basis. Some welders, contractors, and others who face the dangers of daily exposure to electrical hazards wear special flash suits to protect themselves. Workers know that they can’t always be certain that the correct power circuits have been turned off or that equipment is functioning properly.
Electricity could cause two major types of burns when such a work accident occurs:
There are the electrical burns a worker might receive from direct contact with the electrical current, and
Thermal burns he might receive from electrical arc flashes and explosions.
Arc flashes result when high-amp currents travel (arc) through the air to another conductor or ground point. Arc flashes are not uncommon when high differences in voltage occur across a gap between conductors. Electrical forces will try to bridge the gap and balance the voltages, resulting in a huge release of energy: a major arc flash or electrical explosion.
Our Houston work injury attorneys point out that arc flashes have been known to reach temperatures that exceed the temperature at the surface of the sun. Temperatures as high as 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit have been recorded in such flashes.
Such high temperatures can cause immediate and severe burns that destroy skin, bone, and tissue. They can melt or ignite clothing, which causes additional burn wounds on the electrical accident victim. The high temperatures can turn metal equipment, tools, and structure molten. The molten droplets might be hurled through the air to lodge in skin, hair, clothing, or lungs, causing additional burns and injuries.
Injuries include deep tissue burns, erosion of tissue from loss of moisture, distortion of limbs, skin grafts, amputations, and death. The age and health of the victim as well as the percentage of body area over which burns results strongly influences the severity of the injuries and likelihood of death from an electrical arc flash.
In addition, a high-amp arc (and amperage has more to do with the danger of electrical injury than voltage) could produce a high-pressure wave blast with a force up to 1,000 pounds. The concussive wave blast can hurl electrical accident victims to the floor or into walls or other objects to produce serious impact injuries such as fractured skulls. Hearing loss might result as well.
Our Houston work injury attorneys note that about 10% of work-related burn injuries result from electrical arc flashes and explosions. The other 90% of on-the-job burn injuries result from fires caused by carelessness, lightning, wrecks, equipment malfunctions, and other causes of fires.
The victims of on-the-job electrical arc and thermal burns might have permanent disability, scarring, pain, and post-traumatic stress. Because of the nature of their injuries, which might totally change their appearance and physical abilities, workers injured by electrical fires might suffer from anxiety and depression.
The workers might struggle to re-integrate into their communities after recovering from their injuries. Workers’ compensation and disability plans usually only pay a percentage of the worker’s lost wages if he cannot return to work.
A Houston worker injured in an on-the-job electrical fire could consult with an experienced and knowledgeable Houston work injury attorney to determine whether he might be eligible for a full financial recovery for his losses from the burn injuries. A skilled attorney could help you to pinpoint all of the negligent parties that contributed to your accident injuries.
Even when you’re covered by workers’ comp, not all of those who contributed to your accident might be covered by the compensation rules. You might be eligible to pursue separate civil liability actions to recover damages for all of your losses from these additional liable parties.
Let the dedicated Houston work injury attorneys at Denena & Points help you find all of your available legal options for pursuing the economic damages you deserve for your needless injury. We’ve been helping our clients successfully win favorable outcomes in such cases for more than 14 years. We could help you and your loved ones too. Call or email us today for your free case evaluation consultation.