Have you or a loved one been injured on the job in a forklift-related accident?

Forklift injuries can occur in a surprising variety of ways, including the following:

  • A forklift struck you while shopping.
  • A forklift’s payload fell onto you.
  • A forklift you were operating injured you.

Sometimes forklift injuries are caused by unsafe, unsupervised working conditions or a lack of mandatory training. Regardless of how or why your injury occurred, if a forklift has injured you, you may be entitled to benefits to pay for your damages. Damages may include the cost of your medical bills, lost wages, and even the pain and suffering you endured due to your injury.

The New York forklift injury attorneys at Tucker Lawyers PC are experienced in the legal responsibility and science behind these accidents. We understand how and why forklift injuries happen. We have represented similar issues in court, and if your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence, we will ensure that they will be held accountable.

Why Choose Tucker Lawyers for Your Forklift Accident Advocates?

When an on-the-job forklift injury has hurt you, you need to know where to turn for help. You need solid legal advice from professionals who have dealt with forklift injuries before and understand the complications associated with these cases.

The forklift accident legal team at Tucker Lawyers is ready to help you obtain the compensation and damages you deserve. Our legal team understands forklift accidents and personal injury law, and we are prepared to help you assert your rights. We will help you walk away with the money you deserve for your injuries.

Our attorneys have decades of experience helping clients just like you to receive justice for their injuries. Tucker Lawyers offers:

  • Ample resources, with a staff of more than 150 on our team
  • Personalized services that focus on our clients
  • Experienced lawyers who understand how to win top results, with settlements ranging into the millions of dollars.

In addition to our legal prowess inside the courtroom, Tucker Lawyers prides itself on its excellent customer service. We understand that you are at the heart of our business. At all times, our highest priority is to help you get the results you need and deserve.

We enjoy helping our clients get the legal insight they need to make the right decisions. We have been helping clients for decades and have a host of satisfied customers to back up our claims.

Get in touch with our knowledgeable team of lawyers. Call us today at (516) 399-2364.

Forklift Accidents are Especially Dangerous

Few are surprised when they learn that forklifts are dangerous, because the machines just look hazardous. To fortify that notion, we know that forklifts have a high accident potential. Forklift machines are large, heavy, and somewhat cumbersome. It is no surprise that they can cause significant damage when they are misused or not properly maintained. Injuries from forklifts can include:

  • Isolated injuries
  • Combined injuries, often affecting the lower extremities, such as legs and feet
  • Bone fractures
  • Amputations
  • Death.

These accidents can be more serious than other on-the-job incidents and cause an average workplace incapacitation of 33.6 weeks.

  • Forklift accidents in the U.S. claim an average of 85 lives each year.
  • Almost 35,000 workers are seriously injured in forklift accidents annually.
  • Around 62,000 suffer non-serious forklift injuries each year.
  • The overturning of the forklift machinery occurs in 24 percent of forklift-related accidents.
  • OSHA estimates that about 70 percent of forklift accidents in the U.S. could be prevented if companies incorporate more rigorous training policies.

If a forklift or other heavy machinery hurts you while you are on the job, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation. In other situations, your best alternative may be to take the matter to court. Either way, an experienced forklift attorney can help you choose the best strategy for obtaining compensation for your damages.

The personal injury legal team at Tucker Lawyers is particularly well suited to help you with your forklift injuries, regardless of how you may have received them.

Injuries Related to Forklift Accidents

According To OSHA, These Are the Most Common Forklift-Related Mishaps:

  • Collisions with pedestrians – operators not paying attention when entering and exiting a trailer or when driving through intersections
  • Hoisting another worker into the air or transporting a worker using the forks
  • Tipping over – which usually happens when the load is too heavy or carried too high
  • Falling objects from loads
  • Operator ejected from the forklift – when the forklift tips, rolls or falls off of a loading dock or platform
  • Manufacturing defects – when the forklift fails due to a defect or design flaw.

As to the types of injuries that occur to forklift accident victims, two of the construction industry’s “Fatal Four” injuries are associated with many of these accidents:

  • Crush injuries, when a pedestrian worker is caught between a forklift and another stationary device, like a wall, load, or another vehicle, or is struck by a moving forklift
  • Falling objects from a load being transported or lifted at heights that then fall on an unsuspecting worker, and sometimes even the operators themselves.

Injuries can include concussions (and other traumatic brain injuries – TBI), broken or crushed limbs, internal organ damage, and other wounds that one would find in “caught in-between” accidents, often categorized as truck accident injury. Though forklift operators are apparently at risk for injury, nearly 80 percent of forklift accidents involve a pedestrian. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that the leading type of fatal lift truck accident among workers is a pedestrian being struck by a forklift.

If you have suffered a forklift accident, don’t hesitate to contact our team of personal injury lawyer in Brooklyn so we can explore your compensation possibilities: (516) 399-2364.

Forklift Drivers Must Always Give Pedestrians the Right of Way

OSHA regulations clearly state that pedestrians have the right of way when encountering a forklift. This is why operators must be vigilant whenever they are operating a forklift. This means slowing down and sounding their horn in doorways, intersections, blind spots, and entrances or exits of a building. The following are some other mandatory OSHA forklift safety regulations. They must:

  • Be operated by workers who have the proper training
  • Not lift their cargo above the heads of other workers or pedestrians
  • Be operated in tandem with a spotter
  • Be appropriately inspected and maintained
  • Be operated on smooth, even ground
  • Be equipped with all proper safety equipment
  • Be operated by personnel using seat belts or other safety harnesses.

There can be many other factors leading to injuries caused by forklifts, which is why it is critical to hire a seasoned forklift injury lawyer to investigate the accident, determine who is responsible, and hold them legally liable.

Contact Our Experienced New York Forklift Accident Lawyers

Navigating the bureaucracy associated with a forklift injury can be a monumental challenge. This is especially true if you were injured at work. If your employer is unethical, they may attempt any number of unscrupulous moves, such as:

  • Denying your workers’ compensation claim
  • Delay in paying you
  • Harassing you.

In extreme cases, they may even threaten to fire you or actually fire you. Of course, there are laws that protect you from these dishonest employer strategies. The skilled attorneys at Tucker Lawyers can help you through these instances and bring your employer to justice.

In other cases, there may be a question of fault. When this happens, our legal team can protect your compensation rights. An investigation may be necessary if you need to file a non-employer (“third-party”) claim. You may also need to consult medical experts and accident reconstruction specialists. Because forklift injuries can be severe, the stakes in these expensive cases are often high, and a liability insurer could more aggressively dispute any compensation claims you may make. Fortunately, the compassionate legal team at Tucker Lawyers can take care of this for you.

You may be entitled to compensation if you have recently experienced any of the following:

  • Falling from a forklift
  • Being hit by a forklift
  • Being caught between a forklift and another object.

Contact our New York forklift accident lawyers today. The consultation is free, and there is no legal fee unless we win your case.

Call us at (516) 399-2364 or contact us online.

john tucker

Managing Attorney John. J. Tucker, Esq.

John has personally handled thousands of clients who were victims of another’s negligence and fights relentlessly for their rights. John enjoys bringing closure to a client’s matter so that the injured party can move forward with their life. His background enables him to evaluate complex liability related claims and bring resolution to claims in a record time frame. [ Attorney Bio ]

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