Defective Machinery

You May Have A Personal Injury Claim In Addition To Your Workers’ Comp Claim

As anybody who works in a plant or factory knows, safety comes first; or at least that is what your managers and supervisors tell you. What you do not know, and what some of them do not know either, is that you may be working with heavy machinery or industrial equipment that can be potentially hazardous. You may even have equipment in your workplace that has been recalled for safety concerns. This is becoming more and more common. As the manufacturers of such heavy equipment look for ways to cut production costs, some issues are overlooked. Sometimes however, the result can be catastrophic.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), one such case involves the factory equipment at a Caterpillar plant, which is used to create earth-moving equipment. A lawsuit was argued between Caterpillar and OSHA in the 1990s when one of their factory machines, a track press, had a defect that could cause workers’ fingers to be crushed inside the machinery. Because of the court case, extra safety measures were put in place by the Caterpillar Company to fix this issue—and thankfully it came before anybody had to lose their fingers.