That is why we not only fight to ensure our clients get all the workers’ comp benefits to which they are entitled, but we also investigate and pursue claims for compensation against any third parties that may be responsible for a forklift accident, such as the manufacturer or a contractor charged with maintaining the machine. When a Third Party is at FaultĮven when an employer provides all available benefits after a forklift accident, these benefits can be far from sufficient to cover all the losses that follow a catastrophic injury. While the average number of days away from work due to all workplace accidents and injuries is 12 days, forklift accidents and injuries result in an average of 17 days off work, costing employers and employees significant sums. In 2020 alone, according to the National Safety Council, forklifts were the source of 78 work-related deaths and 7,290 non-fatal injuries involving days away from work. An average of 85 Americans die in forklift accidents each year.Of those accidents, 34,900 have resulted in serious injuries and permanent disability.Forklift accidents injure almost 97,000 Americans every year.Statistics from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reveal that 11 percent of those forklifts will be involved in an injury-causing accident. Overweight, uneven, or unbalanced loadsĪlmost 100,000 Forklift Injuries Each YearĪccording to the Industrial Truck Association, about 855,900 forklifts are in operation at any given time in the U.S.Rollovers are one of the most common causes of injuries and deaths. Failing to provide a safe work environment for forklift operationĪll these failures can contribute to the many types of accidents involving forklifts that occur every year.Not adopting and enforcing clear safety rules.Employers have a responsibility to ensure safe forklift use and maintenance and keep a safe work environment, but they often fail to do so by negligently: Failing to account for low clearances, narrow corridors, and the presence of other workersīut operators aren’t always responsible when things go tragically wrong with a forklift.Improper turning, braking, or other driving conduct.Unbalanced or inadequately secured loads.It requires significantly more training, experience, and caution than driving other types of vehicles or machinery, and operators must maintain a constant awareness of nearby people and objects.īut all kinds of operator negligence can lead to accidents, including: It isn’t easy or intuitive to safely operate a forklift. With a deep commitment to our clients’ well-being, our forklift injury lawyers pursue the maximum compensation available on behalf of injured Texas and New Mexico workers injured in forklift accidents. When workers operate forklifts negligently or employers fail to meet their obligations regarding forklift safety, causing employees or others’ injuries or deaths, the workers and families whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted need and deserve compensation for their losses.Īt Glasheen, Valles & Inderman Injury Lawyers, we represent victims of avoidable forklift accidents that arise from negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or blatant disregard for workplace safety.
While forklift accidents may be frequent, they are far from inevitable.Īnd while some forklift accidents are genuine “accidents,” the overwhelming majority of injury-causing forklift mishaps could have been avoided if operators had received the required training, equipment had been properly maintained, and employers had followed all applicable workplace safety rules and regulations. But accidents involving these large, complex, and dangerous machines happen with disturbing regularity, injuring and killing workers at a rate that exceeds other types of workplace accidents. It takes a lot of power to do this heavy work and a lot of training and skill to operate a forklift safely. At warehouses, factories, construction sites, and other workplaces in Texas and New Mexico and across the country, thousands of forklifts and forklift operators are lifting, moving, and depositing tons upon tons of materials.
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