From cooks to factory workers, many Missouri employees work with heat, flames, sparks, and chemicals daily, putting them at risk of severe burns.
Under Missouri state law, employees burned on the job are entitled to workers’ compensation.
Workers’ comp laws apply regardless of who caused the injury.
In other words, it doesn’t matter if your carelessness or an employer’s negligence caused your on-the-job burn.
If you were injured in the course of employment and did not deliberately harm yourself, you are entitled to burn at work compensation.
To get in touch with a Missouri workers’ comp lawyer, please contact our team at Cottrell Law Office today.
Types of Workplace Burn Injuries
Burns can occur in any workplace. Accidents happen when workers aren’t trained properly or employers fail to enforce safety rules.
But in many workplaces, employees face daily exposure to open flames, sparks, electrical currents, and a variety of other heat sources, as well as flammable and corrosive chemicals and gasses.
Depending on your occupation, you may be at a greater risk for a severe burn injury at work than others.
The most common types of workplace burns are:
- Thermal—caused by exposure to or contact with a heat source, including open flames, scalding liquids, hot objects, sparks, and explosions;
- Chemical—caused by chemicals that eat away skin and deeper tissue, causing damage like a thermal burn; and
- Electrical—caused by electrical currents that run through the body, burning internal tissue.
Workers most often exposed to these types of burns include:
- Firefighters,
- Welders,
- Electricians and electrical workers,
- Manufacturing workers,
- Assembly line workers,
- First responders,
- Construction workers,
- Scrap metal recycling workers,
- Restaurant workers,
- Police and security personnel, and
- Road pavement workers.
The American Burn Association reports that 8% of all burn injuries occurring annually result from workplace accidents.
These burns happen in several ways and are classified by level, from first-degree burns to fourth-degree burns, the most severe ones.
However, any degree of a burn can cause extreme pain, loss of earnings, and the accrual of expensive medical bills.
Burn at Work Compensation for Medical Costs and Lost Pay
Under Missouri workers’ comp laws, besides medical treatment, an employee may receive temporary burn injury compensation payouts of up to two-thirds of their average weekly wage after missing three workdays.
If the employee is off work for more than 14 days, an employer must also pay an employee for the first three days of work missed.
Missouri workers’ comp laws require employers to pay additional compensation if the employee has a permanent impairment or cannot return to work.
If the injury results in death, benefits are paid to the employee’s surviving dependents.
In addition to workers’ comp benefits from burn injury at work claims, a worker who suffered a severe burn might consider pursuing a personal injury lawsuit if a third party was responsible for their injuries.
Examples of third-party contributions might include:
- A subcontractor’s employee or a vendor working at the job site who caused a burn injury; or
- Use of a defective product that caused a burn injury.
Employees suffering from workplace burn injuries may face serious physical and emotional effects that can impact their daily lives.
In some instances, burn injuries require extensive hospital stays, expensive medical treatment and therapy, and long-term care services.
Whether you suffered a burn injury because of another person’s negligence or misconduct or by accident, it’s essential to contact an experienced Missouri burn injury lawyer who can advise you of your legal rights and remedies.
Contact a Missouri Workers’ Compensation Attorney Today
With over 32 years of experience helping the injured in Missouri, the Cottrell Law Office has a reputation for being among the best at getting results.
We can handle your case and deal directly with the other party’s insurance company while guiding you through the injury process.
If you’re interested in learning more about your legal rights as a burn victim, contact Wes Cottrell or his experienced legal assistants at the Cottrell Law Office today at (855) 925-6080.
Wesley Cottrell
Wes Cottrell earned his B.A. from Pittsburg State University in 1981 and his J.D. from the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in 1985. He was admitted to practice law in Kansas in 1986, in Missouri in 1987, in Arkansas in 1989, and Oklahoma in 1993. He is licensed to practice law in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, eastern Arkansas, western Arkansas, and western Missouri. He was Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Crawford County, Kansas from 1987-1989.
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