According to a leading trade association, forklift accidents totaled more than 40,000 in 2021-22. Every year, 8,000-9,000 of those are injury-causing, according to OSHA, with 75-95 people dying annually in forklift accidents. When your Oregon forklift accident has left you significantly injured (or has taken the life of a loved one,) an industrial accident claim may be a vital element of your family’s financial recovery. To find out if you can seek accountability for your accident using this legal tool, reach out without delay to speak to a knowledgeable Oregon industrial accident lawyer.
Forklift accidents encompass everything from forklift rollovers to pedestrian impacts to forklifts falling off docks/trailers and more. Rollovers are the most common type of accident, but are far from the only cause. Other factors include working in close quarters with pedestrians, insufficiently trained forklift operators, improperly loaded loads, workers falling from forks, mechanical failures, and more.
Earlier this month, the scenario involved a falling forklift, and the outcome was tragically fatal.
C.D. was a forklift operator who worked at a supermarket chain’s distribution center located just north of Salem. C.D. was working on his forklift inside a shipping container attached to a semi-trailer. The driver of the semi-truck, apparently unaware that the forklift operator was inside the container, began to drive off. That caused C.D.’s forklift to fall out of the container, killing him.
The Oregonian’s report on the fatal accident contained one additional bit of information at the end of the article, stating that both C.D. “and the semi-truck driver were working for third-party contractors at the distribution center.” That piece of information could potentially be crucial in holding the negligent parties accountable for the accident.
Industrial Accident Lawsuits and Third-Party Liability
The statuses of the forklift operator’s employer and the semi-truck driver’s employer are important because of the way Oregon law structures claims based on workplace accidents. If you get hurt on the job and the only person/entity who was negligent in causing your accident was your employer, your legal options may be limited. Oregon generally does not permit injured employees to sue their employer for negligence-related accidents that result in injury. Instead, the injured worker may only pursue a workers’ compensation claim.
If, however, the at-fault party was a third party, you could have greater options. If you are suing someone other than your employer for your workplace accident, the law in Oregon allows you to proceed in civil court by filing an industrial accident claim. In the recent fatal forklift accident, the forklift operator and the truck driver worked for separate entities, and neither worked for the supermarket chain. Because a potential legal claim could name people/entities other than the forklift operator’s employer, an industrial accident action may be available to that family.
This scenario is far from the only way an injured forklift operator may pursue an industrial accident case. If, for example, the operator got hurt due to the forklift’s mechanical failure, those facts might open the door to a legal claim against the entities that manufactured, maintained, and repaired the forklift (or that manufactured a defective part that failed). Additionally, construction projects where forklifts are present are often sites where employees from multiple subcontractors are present, and the general contractor has a contractual duty to ensure safety across the entire site. If you get hurt in a forklift accident at a site like that, you could have claims against one or more subcontractors (excluding your employer) plus the general contractor.
These cases can be highly complex and often require the highest level of care in their investigation. A thorough investigation is necessary to make essential determinations about crucial elements, such as apportionment of liability. In other words, these are matters where it pays to have a skilled advocate on your side. The knowledgeable Oregon industrial accident attorneys at Kaplan Law LLC have extensive firsthand experience handling industrial accident cases in this state, building a proven track record of success in these matters. To learn more, call (503) 226-3844 today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.