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We Are Your Advocates if You Are Injured in a Forklift Accident
You need an experienced South Carolina construction accident attorney to protect your rights
Powered industrial trucks known as forklifts are a common sight around construction areas, unloading pallets of building supplies and machinery from flatbed semi-trucks and moving and raising them to the places at which they are needed. The operators navigate their way over uneven ground, and through areas filled with workers and cluttered with construction debris. Their machines are susceptible to tipping over and crushing them or nearby workers unless their loads are carefully balanced and at correct heights.
If you or someone you love has been injured by a forklift, contact McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, right away. We offer skilled, comprehensive legal representation in personal injury lawsuits throughout South Carolina. If you are not getting the money you need to pay your hospital bills, lost wages, and additional expenses, don’t wait to call us today for a free case evaluation.
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How common are forklift accidents?
There is no shortage of accidents involving forklifts. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that forklifts are involved in approximately 85 fatal accidents per year. And, a study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of 1,021 forklift fatalities that occurred over a fifteen year period, disclosed that the percentages of the four most common reasons for forklift-related deaths accounted for two-thirds of the total:
- Forklift overturned 22%
- Worker on foot struck by forklift 20%
- Victim crushed by forklift 16%
- Victim fell from forklift 9%
Less frequent but equally deadly accidents can result from poor maintenance of a forklift’s lifting mechanism’s hydraulics or its propane motive power system.
How can a lawyer help me if I am covered by workers’ compensation?
Experienced South Carolina construction accident attorneys such as those working with McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, will consider not only the extent of your injuries, but the way in which the accident occurred and who or what was responsible for causing it. Because there are usually a number of subcontracting companies on a worksite besides the general contractor, you may have recourse other than workers’ compensation if other companies’ employees bore any responsibility for your injury; for example, by causing the forklift that was unloading next to you to tip onto you, drop its contents on you, or catch fire and burn you. These “third party actions” are independent of workers’ compensation claims, which are made against one’s own employer.
There is no such thing as a “slight” accident involving a forklift. Workers who survive them may be left with permanent or disabling injuries and may be permanently incapable of ever resuming employment.
South Carolina attorneys getting justice for forklift accident victims and their families
If you are injured, or a loved one is injured or killed in a forklift accident, you or your family may be entitled to compensation for both financial and non-financial losses. You should contact an experienced South Carolina construction accident lawyer at once to protect your rights. McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, is committed to helping construction accident victims obtain the settlements they rightfully deserve.
Contact McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, today. Call 803-327-7800 and schedule a free case evaluation by an experienced South Carolina construction accident attorney, or fill out our contact form from any device. We proudly serve people throughout the state from offices in Columbia, Anderson, Rock Hill, Sumter, and Georgetown.