From cooks to factory workers to custodial staff, many Ohioans must work with dangerous heat, flames, sparks, and chemicals daily, and are at risk of suffering a severe burn.
Remember that workers’ compensation is no-fault insurance, so it doesn’t matter if your own carelessness or an employer’s negligence caused your on-the-job burn. Ohio workers’ compensation should cover your medical bills and lost wages.
Odds of Suffering a Workplace Burn
Burns are among the less frequent workplace accidents. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while around 455,000 workers suffered sprains, strains, and tears on the job in 2017, only 26,000 suffered thermal or chemical burns, averaging five days away from work.
These statistics would mean nothing, however, if you were one worker who suffered a severe burn on the job. Burns can cause physical and emotional injuries that prevent you from returning to work.
Different Occupations Carry Risks of Job-Related Burns
There's a chance of suffering a burn in almost any workplace. Even an office worker can get burned on a coffee pot or be exposed to a chemical. These injuries are often frequent on construction sites.
Depending on your work environment, you could experience one of these types of burns:
- Thermal. These are caused by exposure to or contact with a heat source. They could be caused by open flames, scalding liquids, hot objects, sparks, and explosions. Restaurant employees and welders are at particular risk of suffering a thermal burn at work, but many workers are exposed to heat sources.
- Chemical. Strong chemicals can eat away skin and deeper tissue, causing damage similar to a thermal burn. Industrial cleaners and chemicals used in labs and manufacturing processes can burn skin without the proper precautions. Custodial staff, chemical engineers, millwrights, machine operators, and construction workers all handle various kinds of chemicals that can cause burns.
- Electrical. When electrical current runs through the body, internal tissue can be burned. Anyone working around live wires risks an electrical burn, including AEP Ohio employees, construction and manufacturing employees, and others. These workers are also at risk of suffering electrical shocks, which could be deadly.
Severe burns can lead to serious infections, disfigurement, and permanent disability. These injuries might also require extensive treatment—including skin grafts and plastic surgery—that keep a victim away from the workplace for weeks or months. Ohio workers’ compensation provides benefits for medical treatment and psychological counseling, ongoing therapies, and wage replacement for workers who suffer burn injuries on the job.
Call a Columbus Workers’ Comp Attorney
If you're being blamed for your work-related burn injury, or your employer is claiming the injury didn't occur at work, call my Columbus office to discuss your case. I also recommend that you request a free download of my book, The Worker’s Guide to Injury Compensation in Ohio to learn more about your rights when you're injured on the job in Ohio.
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