Salinas Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Maison Law supports burn injury workers in Salinas. If you or a loved one has suffered burn injuries while on the job, Maison Law can manage your claim and ensure fair compensation, as well as adequate medical treatment. Burn injury victims typically require extensive medical treatment and will more than likely need to miss time at work. To ensure your rights and compensation are protected after suffering a work-related burn injury in Salinas, we recommend consulting with one of our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys today.

Our firm has years of experience in assisting injured workers in Salinas through every step of the legal process to reach a successful outcome with any issue they have involving their workers’ compensation claim. For more information or to start the legal process today, contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Burn Injuries

Burn injuries can be devastating for workers in Salinas. After a work-related burn injury, many workers will wonder: How will I pay my medical bills? Will I get paid for my missed time at work? How will I support my family while I recover? These are all normal questions, and the attorneys at Maison Law can help you get the answers you need.

While a lawyer is not necessary to begin receiving workers’ compensation benefits, an attorney can be beneficial to your claim. Our firm will advocate on your behalf to ensure your employer’s workers’ comp insurance is giving you all the benefits you need after a work-related injury. These benefits can include:

• Lifetime medical care: severe injuries sustained at work can result in treatment for the rest of one’s life, or for the duration of the injury.
• Temporary disability: temporary disability benefits pay for two-thirds of the gross (pre-tax) wages you lose while you are recovering from a job injury. This is paid by filing a workers’ compensation claim through your employer.
• Permanent disability: awarded to injured workers who are permanently unable to perform the normal work or activities they were capable of doing prior to the date of the injury. Monetary amounts for permanent disability vary on a case-by-case basis.
• Supplemental job displacement: if you are unable to return to your employment after you have been released by your treating physician, you may be entitled to receive a voucher that will be paid up to a school up to a certain amount, depending on your disability.
• Travel Costs: travel to and from medical treatment such as doctor’s visits, surgery appointments, and rehabilitation can be partially or fully covered under workers’ compensation.
• Death benefits: in the result of a fatal accident at work, workers’ compensation pays qualifying dependents up to a maximum of $320,000 with up to $10,000 for burial expenses.

Do I Need a Salinas Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer?

A lawyer can help you manage your claim, as well as explore every possible avenue to get you compensation. For example, let’s say you’re working at Stonies Tap House and Grill in Salinas. We love the brisket sliders at Stonies, but for the sake of understanding a work-related burn injury from a legal standpoint, we’re going to use this fine establishment as an example.

So, hypothetically, you’re working as a line cook at Stonies Tap House and a deep fryer explodes, causing you to suffer second and third-degree burns. You’ll immediately receive workers’ compensation benefits, but what if this accident was caused due to a careless act or a defective part on the fryer? Workers’ compensation does not cover negligence or the emotional damage you’ll most likely experience from a burn injury.

For that reason, you’ll want to choose the best representation for your burn injury. The Workers’ Compensation Attorneys at Maison Law will not only manage your workers’ compensation claim, but we’ll pursue additional damages by filing a personal injury lawsuit against the party responsible for your injury. Liable parties could include:

• A business
• A parts manufacturer
• Parts distributor
• A third party contractor

Damages you can receive for a personal injury lawsuit include:

• Present and future medical expenses
• Loss of income, as well as the reduction in your earning capacity you’ve suffered from your work-related accident
• Cost of living with your injury, such as making your home disability accessible, purchasing a wheelchair or crutches, hiring a nurse or housekeeper
• Damage done to your property during the accident
• Pain and suffering caused by your injuries
• Stress and anxiety due to the nature of your accident
• Your mental state after a life-changing accident
• Loss of ability to enjoy life
• Loss of companionship or consortium
• Scarring, disfigurement, and permanent physical disability

Degrees of Burn Injuries

The severity of your burn injury will not only impact the amount of medical treatment you receive but your compensation as well. Burn injuries are sorted into the following degrees:

• 1st-degree burns: 1st-degree burns are considered mild burns that usually heal with at-home, first-aid treatment. These injuries typically do not qualify for a personal injury claim but may result in a workers’ compensation claim, depending on the situation.
• 2nd-degree burns: these are considered serious burn injuries, requiring emergency medical care. Second-degree burns have the potential to be fatal or cause permanent health complications.
• 3rd-degree burns: 3rd-degree burns are by far the most serious of burn injuries. Third-degree burns damage all three layers of skin and present the greatest risk of complications. In some cases, these burns are not felt after they occur because they destroy the nerve endings in a person’s body, making them unable to detect pain.

Typically, the higher the degree of a burn, the more compensation you are entitled to through a workers’ compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit if your injury was caused by the negligence of a third party. To understand your right to compensation and the value of your case, contact us today for a free review of your case.

Salinas Burn Injuries Across Different Occupations

According to City Data, Salinas’s leading industries include agriculture, transportation, and construction. These industries have some of the highest risks of burn injuries across all workplace injuries. According to the National Library of Medicine, there are over 5,000 work-related burn injuries in the United States every year, making up 45% of all burn injuries across the country. Burn injuries are most common in the following occupational settings:

• Industrial and Manufacturing: this work usually involves high-temperature machines, chemicals, and flammable materials, which can lead to burns if safety standards are not met or followed.
• Restaurant & Commercial Kitchens: hot oils, high-temperature ovens, and boiling water in a fast-paced environment are the perfect “recipe” for a burn accident. Employees who are not provided proper protective equipment or shown safe work practices can sustain severe burns in a chaotic kitchen environment.
• Construction Sites: Exposure to electrical wiring, flammable substances, and high-temperature machinery such as a soldering iron can cause severe burns to employees if OSHA rules for grounding electrical equipment or warning of dangerous workspaces are not followed.
• Laboratories: Chemical burns are always a risk when handling dangerous substances without adequate safety measures. Dangerous substances should always be handled with protective gloves and goggles with respiratory equipment on-hand and adequate ventilation in the building.

What is the Process for Filing a Salinas Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Claim?

The first thing you should do after a burn injury at work in Salinas is seek medical treatment. Knowing where your local Salinas burn centers are will be essential to treating your injuries as soon as possible. Next, report the injury to your employer.  Make sure your supervisor or someone in management knows as soon as possible. Next, you should fill out a workers’ compensation claim form. Your employer is obligated to give or mail you a Workers’ Compensation Claim Form (DWC 1) within one working day after you report your burn injury.

You should fill out this form and return it to your employer as soon as possible to avoid possible problems with your claim. Claim forms returned more than 30 days after you’ve received them can potentially reduce your worker’s comp benefits or negate them entirely.

After submitting your claim, it is essential to get good medical care for your transportation injury. You should seek out treatment from a doctor who understands your particular type of injury. The doctor you choose will be known as your “primary treating physician” throughout the workers’ compensation process. The role of this doctor is to:

• Prescribe care for your job-related injury
• Manage your overall care
• Help determine when or if you can return to work
• Help identify the kinds of work you can do safely while recovering
• Refer specialists if necessary
• Write medical reports that will help determine the benefits you can receive

When working through your injuries with your primary treating physician, you should be open and honest about all of your symptoms. Describe the events at work and what you believe led to your overexertion injuries. If you do end up filing a workers’ compensation claim, your doctor will play a large role in certifying the legitimacy of your injuries and the damage done to your life.

Contact a Salinas Burn Injury Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

At Maison Law, we recognize the risks of burn injuries workers face every day in Salinas. The damage burn injuries can bring to a person’s livelihood and their family’s well-being is catastrophic, but there are legal options available to help you get your life back. If your workers’ compensation has been inadequate at covering your medical bills or providing you with enough compensation to be made whole after your accident, we can help. Contact Maison Law today for a free consultation and case evaluation. There are no upfront charges for our legal assistance and you won’t pay a cent unless we win your case.