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Obtaining Compensation for Workplace Injuries Caused by Defective Products

Updated April 29, 2019 | By Wilson Kehoe Winingham staff

While working at an auto-parts manufacturing plant, a female press operator had her hand crushed and burned to the point of requiring amputation. She had reached in to remove a completed part from a 30 ton rubber injection molding press when a hydraulic cylinder fractured, causing the upper portion of the press to fall on her hand. She was trapped for 20 minutes before she could be extricated from the press.

Manufacturer Negligence Shown

Our firm discovered another machine cylinder had fractured only a few months before. The manufacturers knew about the metallurgical defects in the cylinder and the lack of safety features on the presses, yet they had not fixed the problem. We developed a computer animation that showed how the failure occurred and how it could have easily been prevented. The case was successfully resolved shortly after mediation.

Preventable Accidents Lead to Injuries

Each year, thousands of people are injured or killed due to a tragic accident such as this one. Losing someone you love is always devastating, but it can be particularly overwhelming when your loved one’s death resulted from a preventable accident. Generally, Indiana workers’ compensation laws do not allow an employee to sue their employer for injuries sustained while on the job. If an accident was the result of a third party’s negligence, however, an employee may file a lawsuit seeking damages against that party.

How Products Liability Claims Work

Defective equipment or machinery is often ultimately to blame after an industrial accident. Because a product manufacturer has a duty to deliver products free from defect, an injured worker may file a products liability suit against a third-party equipment manufacturer over a dangerous or defective product.

When evaluating a products liability claim, a court will take into account the purpose of the product or machine, whether the machine was accompanied by sufficient safety warnings, the overall utility of the product, the probability an accident might occur during regular use of the machine, and the product’s projected lifetime of usefulness.

In order to succeed in a products liability case, a plaintiff generally must demonstrate a product manufacturer had a duty to provide a safe product, that duty was breached due to a defective design or manufacturing process, and the injury for which compensation is being sought directly resulted from the defect.

Contact a Products Liability Attorney Today

If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of a defective product, contact the Indianapolis Products Liability Attorneys of Wilson Kehoe Winingham. The lawyers at WKW can help you get the compensation you deserve. Call 317.920.6400 or fill out an online contact form for a free, no-obligation case evaluation.

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Let WKW put our experience to work for you. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

 

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