An Attorney’s Guide to Winning Electrical Injury Lawsuits and Workers Compensation Claims

 

You Can Recover Compensation for the Electrocution of a Loved One and Electrical Injuries (Shock) at Work or Due to the Negligence of Another

 

Electricity improves our lives. It lights homes, powers technology, machines, tools, and appliances, moves cars, treats pain (TENS units), and can even save lives (for example, the cardiac defibrillator). 

 

But contact with electricity can cause severe neurological injuries, burns, and death. Its potential to cause harm is why some states use electrocution as a method of capital punishment. 

 

A substantial number of electrocutions and electrical injuries occur at work. Indeed, an overwhelming majority of high-voltage electrical accidents, the type likely to cause severe injury or death, happen in the workplace. And those of you in the construction, extraction, and trucking industries are most at risk.

 

This article explains your legal options after an electrocution or electric shock at work or due to someone else’s negligence (including businesses, public utilities, and government entities)

 

Read on to learn more about electrical injuries and legal remedies for them. 

 

Then call to speak with an award-winning electrocution accident lawyer if you need help with a personal injury, workers compensation, product liability, social security disability, or traumatic brain injury (TBI) case after an electric shock. You can reach us at 804-251-1620 or 757-810-5614. 

 

 

What is Electricity? 

 

Electricity is the flow (movement) of electrons between different points. 

 

What is an Electrical Injury?

 

An electrical injury is damage to the skin, bones, muscles, joints (including ligaments and tendons), soft tissues, or internal organs caused by an electrical current running through your body. You become part of the electric circuit.

 

The symptoms of electrical injury can range from minor discomfort to organ failure to death.

 

How Common is Electric Shock? Statistics for Workplace Electrical Injuries and Fatalities

 

Multiple organizations compile and report information about fatal and nonfatal occupational electrical injuries. 

 

For example, the data on electrocution injuries and deaths discussed below comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Electrical Safety Foundation. 

 

Deaths from Electrical Injuries

 

There are around 1,000 deaths per year in the United States from electrocution, excluding those who die from burns received in electrical accidents. 

 

Of this number, high-voltage electrical injuries cause approximately four hundred deaths, and lightning causes 50 to 30 fatalities. 

 

Workplace electrocution is a significant health concern.

 

Between 2011 and 2022, electricity caused 1,322 workplace fatalities, meaning that contact with electricity caused six percent of all occupational deaths.

 

Nonfatal Electrical Injuries at Work

 

Each year, there are more than 30,000 electric shock incidents that do not lead to death. However, nonfatal electrical injuries often result in admission to hospital burn units.

 

While electrical injuries to children occur primarily at home, electrical injuries to adults tend to happen at work.

 

For example, more than 3,000 nonfatal electrical injuries resulted in time missed from work in a recent year.

 

These numbers may underestimate the number of work-related electrical injuries and fatalities that occur yearly. Employers, medical providers, state agencies, and federal agencies may classify an electrical accident as another type of event because it often results in multiple external and internal injuries. Indeed, our electrical injury attorneys have seen this happen.

 

Who is Most at Risk for Electrocution?

 

Unsurprisingly, jobs that work with electricity directly, such as electricians, linemen, and employees of electric utilities, suffer electrocution at above-average rates.

 

However, those with jobs near high-risk electric locations also have an increased risk of electric shock injury. Indeed, OSHA reports that 70% of workplace electrical fatalities occurred in non-electrical occupations. 

 

Below is a list of occupations with high rates of electrical injuries. The number in parentheses refers to the number of fatalities from 2011 through 2022 for this specific job. 

 

• Electrician (195 deaths)

 

• Construction laborer (119 deaths)

 

• Non-construction laborer (117 deaths)

 

• Electrical power installer or repairer (109 deaths)

 

• Tree trimmer, arborist, or logger (94 deaths)

 

• HVAC or refrigeration mechanic (42 deaths)

 

• Electrician’s apprentice (37 deaths)

 

• Commercial truck driver (learn more about workers comp for truckers here) (35 deaths)

 

• Roofer (29 deaths)

 

• Painter (28 deaths)

 

• Installer or repairer (26 deaths)

 

• Telecommunication line installer or repairer (23 deaths)

 

• Machinery maintenance tech (22 deaths)

 

• Electrical or electronic engineer (22 deaths)

 

• Carpenter (19 deaths)

 

• Electrical or electronic tech (13 deaths)

 

• Welder or cutter (ironworker) (13 deaths)

 

• Farm worker (11 deaths)

 

• Supervisor involved with power transmission installation (nine deaths)

 

• Electrical and electronic equipment assembler (four deaths)

 

• Electronic repairer of communications and industrial equipment (four deaths)

 

• Electrical and electronic equipment repairer (three deaths)

 

• Plumber

 

• Brick mason

 

• Building and grounds cleaning crew member

 

• Emergency medical technician (first responder) who administers cardiac treatment

 

• Crane operator

 

This list is not exhaustive. Indeed, we have served as electric shock accident lawyers for office workers and nurses who suffered electrical injuries.

 

What are the Common Causes of Electrocution and Electric Shock?

 

Common occupational accidents resulting in electrical injuries and fatalities include exposures to these hazards:

 

• Arc flash (arcing faults): Arcing occurs when the current leaps through the air to close the electric circuit.

 

• Contact with an overhead power line.

 

• Contact with exposed electrical wires or those with insufficient insulation.

 

• Explosions

 

• Failure to turn off the power while work is done in the area.

 

• Failure to maintain utility poles or structures using electricity.

 

• Fires affecting electrical systems.

 

• Frayed or inadequate wiring (such as with extension cords)

 

• Improperly grounded electrical tools, including small handheld tools like saws, hammers, drills, concrete breakers, etc

 

• Indirect contact with live or buried power lines, such as when irrigation, ladders, trucks, forklifts, and cranes strike an energized source

 

• Lightning

 

• Not removing or repairing low-hanging tree branches or power lines

 

• Rain and windstorms that down trees and power lines

 

• Working near electricity in harsh weather (rain, snow, ice, sleet, etc.)

 

• Operating or cleaning machines and equipment when you or a coworker did not follow proper lockout/tagout safety procedures

 

Our award-winning electrocution accident lawyers have experience resolving claims involving each of these types of electrical hazards.

 

Is it Possible to Be Electrocuted or Suffer an Electric Shock Without Touching a Power Source or Line Directly?

 

Yes.

 

You can be electrocuted or sustain an electric shock injury without touching a power line or live electrical circuit directly.

 

For example:

 

Suppose you are a construction worker standing in a “grounded” area. A grounded area does not carry an electric current.

 

A subcontractor’s employee is beside you, operating an excavator next to a utility pole with a power line.

 

Suddenly, the subcontractor makes a mistake, hitting the utility pole, which downs the live power line.

 

When the power line touches the ground, an electric current can travel through the ground and shock or electrocute you even though you have not touched the line.

 

What Factors Determine the Type and Severity of an Electrical Injury?

 

Kouwenhoven’s factors predict the extent and severity of an electrical injury and your long-term prognosis.

 

These six factors are:

 

• Current: Electrical current is the number of electrons flowing between points. Amperes (amps) are the term for current measurement, measured as electrons in motion per second. The higher the current, the greater the risk of death from electrocution. However, even tiny amounts of current can cause symptoms such as tingling or muscle spasms. 

 

• Voltage: Voltage is the amount of force pushing the electrons. Higher-voltage accidents are more likely to cause severe injury or death.

 

• Resistance: Electricity passes through some materials more quickly than others. Wearing protective clothing may prevent death or more severe injury than you otherwise suffer.

 

• Current type: An electric current is either AC or DC. AC stands for alternating current, which is common in households. Low-frequency AC exposure causes extended muscle contractions (tetany) that may freeze the hand and increase the damage suffered. DC stands for direct current, which is a constant flow of electrons. Batteries, lightning, and commercial electrical systems have DC. Exposure to direct current often causes a single convulsion and throws you from the power source.

 

• Duration: The longer your exposure to the electric current, the more likely permanent injuries or death will occur.

 

• Pathway: The path the electricity takes through your body determines its effect on your heart and vital organs.

 

In addition, pre-existing conditions contribute to the likelihood of fatal electrocution or electric shock causing severe harm: Your age, weight, sex, and pre-existing medical impairments, as well as any medical devices (joint replacements, hardware from spinal fusion, pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillator, cardiac loop recorders, etc.), influence the extent of the electrical injury.

 

An electrical injury attorney will investigate the source of the current and obtain expert witness evidence on these factors to maximize the value of your electrocution or electric shock case.

 

What are the Main Categories of Electrical Injuries?

 

Here are the main types of electrical injuries:

 

• Electrocution: When electric current passes through the body, it can disrupt the electric signals between the spinal cord, brain, and muscles, potentially stopping the heart and causing death.

 

• Electric Shock: Electric shock is an electrical injury that may cause life-long disability but not death.

 

• Burns: Burns are common electrical injuries. Indeed, electrical burns account for roughly five percent of admissions to burn units in America. You may suffer a thermal burn from heat generated by an arc, a fire, or an explosion. Learn more about work-related burn injuries here. But remember, the severity or absence of electrical burns does not predict the full extent of the electrical injury.

 

• Falls: Electrocution injuries can lead to a fall if you have a startle reaction or muscle contractions that cause you to lose your balance and fall from a height, such as a ladder, aerial bucket (bucket truck), scaffold, roof, or power line.

 

These electrical accidents can happen to anyone in any career who works with electricity or operates around it, which is almost all of us.

 

How Does an Electrical Injury Affect Your Body? 

 

The damage from electrical injuries ranges from minor wounds that heal within days to harm to multiple body systems that affect the ability to return to work to death. 

 

For example, your electrical injury may cause damage to:

 

• Your skin (from first-degree to full-thickness third-degree burns)

 

• The muscles, nerves, and blood vessels that lie underneath your skin. Soft tissue damage may take time to show. Indeed, you may not notice it until days or weeks after the electric shock accident. Tissue damage often results from the body converting electric energy from the current to heat, which causes thermal burns.

 

• Your heart (such as an irregular heartbeat/arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation, cardiac tissue necrosis, and myocardial infarction/heart attack). This results from the disruption of the blood supply to the heart. In addition, ventricular fibrillation is more likely if the current has a pathway to the heart via a catheter or pacemaker.

 

• Your central nervous system. Symptoms of damage to these systems include agitation, amnesia, memory loss, personality change, and sensory and motor deficits. 

 

• Your peripheral nerves

 

• Your pulmonary system: Electric current may disrupt control of your lungs.

 

• Your gastrointestinal system, including symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and pain 

 

• Your kidneys (requiring dialysis or the need for a kidney transplant) 

 

• Your mental health (depression, anxiety, and PTSD): Psychological problems are common with electric shock victims. 

 

• Your vision

 

In addition, an electrical injury may cause dehydration, muscle avulsion, hemolysis, coagulation necrosis of muscle tissue, hemolysis, or swelling (edema).

 

These problems might be temporary and resolve with time. Or they may cause long-term consequences.

 

What Type of Medical Treatment Will I Need After an Electric Shock Accident?

 

Almost all electrical injuries require emergency medical treatment.

 

From there, you may require follow-up care for orthopedic and internal injuries that includes surgeries, medication, physical therapy, wound care, and extensive rehabilitation.

 

Will I Be Able to Return to Work After an Electrical Injury?

 

Electrical injuries force many victims to leave the workforce or transition to a lighter job that may pay less. Indeed, the duration of disability may last years.

 

These changes may cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in income over your lifetime.

 

Recovering as much of these economic losses as possible is another reason to have a skilled electric shock lawyer on your side.

 

What Are My Legal Options After an Electrical Injury?  

 

In many situations, you have one to three legal options after an electrocution or electric shock injury. 

 

Workers Compensation for Electrocution or Electric Shock

 

First, if an electrical injury occurs on the job, you can seek workers’ compensation benefits (temporary total, temporary partial, permanent partial disability, lifetime medical). 

 

You can receive workers comp regardless of fault unless the employer proves you violated a safety rule, and that this specific violation caused your electrical injury. 

 

Further, you can negotiate a workers compensation settlement for an electrical injury. 

 

Also, family members of employees electrocuted on the job may seek death benefits under the Workers Compensation Act.

 

Personal Injury Lawsuits for Electrocution or Electric Shock

 

Second, you may have a tort claim (civil action for personal injuries) against the person, government entity, company, or manufacturer whose acts or omissions caused the electrical accident. These lawsuits are called third-party actions. 

 

The advantage of a tort claim is you can recover additional money damages compared to workers compensation. For example, personal injury and wrongful death pay for pain and suffering and do not cap economic damages.  

 

However, you must prove all elements of negligence to prevail, including proving fault. This can be challenging, particularly in a contributory negligence jurisdiction like Virginia. 

 

Disability Benefits for Electrical Injuries

 

Third, you may seek Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplement Security Income (SSI) benefits if your electrical injury prevents you from returning to work. Learn how to apply for disability here. 

 

An electrocution accident lawyer will help you evaluate all sources of compensation to help you improve your quality of life after an injury.

 

Parties in Electrocution Accident Cases: Who is Liable for Electric Shock Injuries?

 

Personal injury cases resulting from electrocution or electric shock usually involve multiple parties who may be held liable.

 

An investigation by an electrocution accident lawyer may reveal that one or more of the following entities are at fault:

 

• The utility provider that supplied electricity to the area where the injury occurred: In Virginia, these include Appalachian Power Company, Dominion Energy Virginia, Kentucky Utilities (known as Old Dominion Power in Virginia), A&N Electric Cooperative, B-A-R-C Electric Cooperative, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative, Community Electric Cooperative, Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative, Prince George Electric Cooperative, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, and Southside Electric Cooperative.

 

• The city, town, or county that owned the power lines or the property where the electrocution occurred.

 

• The general contractor who supervised the construction site where the electrical injury happened

 

• The subcontractors who took part in the specific item or task causing the electrocution: For example, you may have a legal claim against the crane operator or forklift driver if their negligence caused the harm.

 

• The property owner responsible for ensuring that the facility and its equipment follow electrical safety standards: Victims of electrocution have recovered money from landlords, nightclubs, entertainment venues, and concert halls.

 

• The equipment manufacturer whose design or manufacturing error resulted in an electrical injury.

 

• Your employer or a coworker: However, workers compensation is the only legal remedy you have for electrical injuries if so.

 

• The driver who crashed into the utility pole in a work zone, causing the accident.

 

You may bring a claim seeking compensation for electric shock injuries against one or more of these people or entities.

 

What is the Average Settlement for an Electrical Injury or Electrocution Case?

 

As with other accident types, the range for personal injury settlements and workers compensation settlements for electrical shock and electrocution varies depending on countless factors.

 

In addition, electrical injury cases often involve multiple defendants. Therefore, your settlement strategy for timing and when to resolve claims against some defendants (rather than keeping all the defendants in the case until the end) impacts your recovery. 

 

However, settlements for electrocution and electric shock can be large because these incidents often result in severe injuries and lifelong disability. Indeed, many settlements for electrical injuries range from $250,000 to $2,000,000 or more.

 

Call an Electrocution Accident Lawyer As Soon as Possible

 

Getting electrocuted at work, at home, or while enjoying yourself at an entertainment venue, such as a concert hall or nightclub, can cause severe, long-term health problems.

 

As your electrical injury attorney, our law firm will evaluate all possible sources of compensation to help you regain your health, financial security, and dignity.

 

Call now to get your life back on track: (757) 810-5614 or (804) 251-1620. With offices in Virginia (Richmond and Newport News), Maryland (Baltimore, Hagerstown, and Cambridge), and Florida, we help electrical injury victims nationwide.

 

We are accepting workers compensation and personal injury cases where electric shock resulted in catastrophic injury or wrongful death.