Forklifts are essential at many work sites, but accidents can affect the driver and others working nearby. Workers at Port Tampa Bay, Tampa International Airport, and other industrial or retail locations can unexpectedly find themselves involved in a forklift incident.
Forklift accidents can cause serious or life-threatening injuries involving costly medical treatment that can leave you out of work for a significant amount of time. If you suffer a forklift accident while on the job in Tampa, you may receive compensation through a worker’s compensation claim. If a third party caused your forklift accident, you can file a third-party liability claim.
Workman’s comp claims are hard to file correctly so that you receive the maximum benefits you deserve. Third-party liability claims grow much more complicated.
Call our Tampa forklift accident attorneys at Holliday Karatinos Law Firm. We can help you with your claim.
Why Should You Call Holliday Karatinos Law Firm After a Tampa Forklift Accident?
Our accident attorneys and staff at Holliday Karatinos Law Firm help clients each day facing loss and damages because of their injuries, including victims of forklift accidents. We understand the difficulties you face when you suffer an injury on the job and are uncertain about your recovery and your ability to earn a living.
Worker’s compensation claims allow injured workers an opportunity to seek compensation for certain losses and expenses when they suffer harm carrying out their work duties and responsibilities. Our team of Tampa personal injury lawyers may be able to help you with the filing of a worker’s compensation claim to pursue compensation for your lost work time and medical expenses.
With offices in and around the Tampa area, including Inverness, Brooksville, and Lutz, we offer convenient options for you to schedule a free consultation in your case. Our Tampa location is just minutes off the I-75 and U.S. 41 in Lutz. Call us today to speak with a member of our team at Holliday Karatinos Law Firm.
How Much Compensation Can I Recover From My Tampa Forklift Accident Case?
Whether you are operating a forklift yourself or you work around forklifts, you are at risk of serious injury. Forklifts are heavy and complex machinery that require proper training to operate safely. Forklift accidents happen all too often at worksites across the U.S., and the injuries to the victims of such an accident can cause devastation or threaten their life.
The National Safety Council reports that across the country, approximately 70 people will lose their lives because of workplace forklift accidents, and more than 7,000 people will suffer injuries requiring time off for recovery.
The victims’ families can face unexpected struggles and hardships as they try to navigate life without their family member. The fork accident victims that survive may lose out on pay and face mounting medical bills that cause difficulties as they recover and try to move forward. Through a worker’s compensation claim, victims can seek recovery from their losses after a forklift accident leading to injuries.
After a forklift-related workplace injury you may receive compensation for:
- Medical costs. The expenses related to treating your forklift accident injury may be extensive, including emergency room care, hospitalization, ambulance transport, surgery, rehabilitation, follow-up care, prescriptions, and medical devices or equipment.
- Temporary disability payments. When an injury leaves you unable to work for more than a few days, the inability to earn an income can drastically affect your life. Through temporary disability payments, you can recover a percentage of your income while you recover and heal as best as possible.
- Permanent disability payments. Unfortunately, not all forklift injuries will heal, and some forklift accident victims will deal with the ramifications of their injuries for the remainder of their lives. In these cases, permanent disability benefits may be available to help cover your daily living expenses moving forward when you are unable to return to work.
- Death benefits. In the most devastating forklift accidents, a victim may die. Sadly, this is the reality for some victims’ families. In cases of workplace death, the surviving family members of a victim may be able to collect death benefits under worker’s compensation insurance coverage.
The Danger of Forklift Accidents in Tampa
Forklifts allow workers to transport heavy loads of materials, equipment, and goods short distances across work sites. This popular machinery is common amongst various industries, including warehouses, retail sites, construction work sites, shipping companies, and manufacturing businesses.
If you are a worker, you may use a forklift as part of your day-to-day job or work near one. Whether moving around goods in the warehouse area of companies such as Publix, Walmart, or Costco or working at a construction site or warehouse for Amazon, Fedex, or UPS, you are at risk of becoming involved in an accident with a forklift.
The reality is that work sites are chaotic and can involve many workers moving about and pallets stacked up throughout. Even when a worker is not operating a forklift, they can still suffer injuries from one. Forklifts require an understanding of not only the mechanisms that move them but also the effects weight and size, and shape of loads can have on maneuverability and balance.
For example, Florida requires that all forklift operators obtain an OSHA approved forklift certification before operating this dangerous machinery because of the high risk of accidents and injury often linked to its use.
Most Common Types of Forklift Accidents
There is not just one scenario where a forklift accident can happen. Surprisingly, there are many ways a forklift can be hazardous and cause injuries to the operator or workers and bystanders nearby. Forklifts are compact but heavy and uniquely shaped, making operating them challenging and predicting how they may move if you are around one.
The most common forklift accidents in the workplace include:
- A forklift overturns or rolls over
- The forklift hits a pedestrian or bystander
- A forklift falls over an elevated platform
- The forklift crushes an individual
- The operator of the forklift falls off or becomes pinned by the machinery
- Falling loads or objects from the forklift that injure the operator or bystanders
What Injuries Can a Victim of a Forklift Accident Sustain?
The injuries that a victim can suffer when involved in a forklift accident are often serious. The forklift itself is a heavy vehicle, and when a rollover occurs, or an operator falls off, they can become pinned underneath it. Additionally, the loads carried and moved by a forklift are often very heavy, which can result in terrible injuries when it falls onto a worker underneath or nearby.
The injuries from a forklift accident are likely to leave you facing time off of work. This may be a matter of days or weeks for moderate injuries, while more serious injuries could require months of recovery and rehabilitation. In some cases, the maximum recovery of the victim may not leave the victim as they were before the forklift accident, and they could face long-term disabilities and health challenges.
Common forklift accident injuries may include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Other head, neck, or back injuries
- Broken bones
- Crush injuries
- Lacerations
- Tears of the ligaments, tendons, or muscles
- Sprains or strains
Filing an Insurance Claim for Damages from a Forklift Accident in Tampa
Fortunately, worker’s compensation insurance covers most injuries that occur in a workplace setting. However, filing a worker’s compensation insurance claim accurately and getting the compensation you are eligible for is not without its challenges. One of the most challenging aspects of a worker’s compensation claim is proving the extent of your injuries and how those injuries interfere with your current ability to fulfill your position’s responsibilities at work.
While you may think filing a claim is easy and straightforward, it is anything but. Worker’s compensation insurance companies can make it difficult for injured workers to get the maximum compensation available on a claim. It is in your best interest to speak to a forklift accident attorney before filing your claim so they can assist you in ensuring an error-free filing that increases your chances of approval of your benefits.
If you already began the claims process and received a claim denial, an attorney can file an appeal for you.
How to Navigate the Aftermath of a Tampa Forklift Accident with Injuries?
Getting injured on the job is often shocking. One moment you are going about your work. The next, you are in pain, worried, and anxious about medical help. You know this accident will affect your ability to earn your income, and you do not know what you should do.
However, what you do in the days following a workplace injury can affect your ability to file a worker’s compensation claim. Consider the following suggestions and guidelines on how to successfully navigate this time and do what is necessary to protect your rights to compensation after a forklift accident. Although filing a worker’s compensation claim is the right of workers who suffer an injury while at work, approval is not automatic, and many claims can end in denial.
Take the Time Necessary to Mend Your Injuries
Getting the medical attention you need following a forklift accident is essential to your health and recovery but also as part of your worker’s compensation claim. Much of the evidence necessary to filing a worker’s compensation claim relates to proving the injuries you sustained and the subsequent treatment necessary for your injuries. If your injuries result in long-term impacts, you must continue your medical care until you reach the maximum medical recovery.
To ensure you do not run into problems when filing your worker’s compensation claim, continue to see your doctor as advised and all follow-up care prescribed. Worker’s compensation claim insurance companies will review your injuries and the care necessary. Any delays in treatment or failure to follow a doctor’s orders could hinder your ability to recover the compensation otherwise available to you under the law and coverage.
Gather All Your Evidence in One Location
From the moment you sustain the injury while at work, you may have evidence accessible to you that can become a part of your insurance claim. This may include photographs of your injuries, witness testimony as to the incident leading to your injuries from the forklift, and medical records regarding your treatment plan and care. The amount of paperwork and documentation relating to your forklift injury can begin to accumulate quickly. Set aside an area, file, or cabinet where you can gather all information relating to your injury.
Make an Appointment for a Free Consultation with Our Office
After you receive treatment for your forklift accident injuries and you feel well enough to talk about the incident, call our office to discuss the accident and how we may be able to help you. We offer free case consultations for workplace accident victims that need to file a worker’s compensation claim. The initial consultation comes at no cost to you, and we can go over the facts of your case and what legal options may be available to you to pursue compensation for your medical expenses and lost income.
Call Our Team at Holliday Karatinos Law Firm for Help
At Holliday Karatinos Law Firm, our worker’s compensation claim attorneys help clients from all types of workplace accidents, including Tampa forklift accidents. We know a forklift accident can upend your life, especially when you still need a steady income to maintain your living expenses and your family’s needs. Contact us at (813) 868-1887 as soon as you are ready to speak to a member of our team about your forklift accident.
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