Residents of Tennessee suffer burn injuries that cause serious harm every year. Severe burn injuries and excessive smoke inhalation can even cause death. Sadly, children are particularly at risk of suffering a burn injury. According to the Centers for Disease Control, someone dies in a fire every 2 hours in the United States. Additionally, every year, Americans suffer 1.1 million burn injuries that require medical attention. Approximately 50,000 burn injuries require hospitalization every year, and about 4,500 burn victims die from their injuries every year. Severe burn injuries can cause permanent disability and a lifetime of medical complications.
If you suffered a burn injury caused by someone else’s negligence or recklessness, you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Once you receive treatment for your burn injury, it is wise to reach out to a Nashville burn injury attorney at Cummings Law. Our experienced personal injury team will review the facts of your burn injury case. We will investigate the cause of your burn injury and explore every legal avenue for seeking compensation. Contact our Nashville personal injury law firm today to learn how we can fight for your best interests.
Common Causes of Burn Injuries
Burn injuries can result from exposure to fire, a hot surface, or a chemical. Fire exposure is a common cause of burn and smoke inhalation injuries. Other burn injury causes include the following:
- Arson
- Exposure to heating elements
- Chemical burns
- Electric burns
- Workplace burns
- Radiation burns
- Fumes
- Gas explosions
- Motor vehicle fires
- Smoke and heat
- Faulty or defective products that cause burns
Who Is Financially Responsible for Burn Injuries?
A burn injury can happen at a person’s home, workplace, or in a public area. When the negligence of another person or property causes the burn injury, the injured party has a legal right to compensation. At Cummings Law, we evaluate the facts of each client’s case to determine which parties are liable for our client’s burn injuries. In some cases, multiple parties may be responsible for the damages caused by the victim’s burn injuries.
Burn Injuries Caused By Workplace Accidents
In workplace accidents that result in burn injuries, the employer may be liable. Employers have a legal duty to provide a reasonably safe working environment for their employees. When employers know or should have known of dangerous conditions that could cause a fire or chemical explosion, they have a legal duty to make those conditions safe.
Employers also have a legal duty to warn employees about dangerous conditions they cannot make safe. If an employer knows that a building has old, unsafe electrical wiring that is a fire hazard, he or she should replace the wiring. If the employer fails to make the wiring safe, and the wiring starts a fire that causes an employee’s burn injury, the victim can bring a personal injury lawsuit against the employer.
Burn Injuries Caused By Car Accidents
Victims of serious car accidents often face several different types of injuries, including burn injuries. When gas or oil leaks from a motor vehicle after a collision and comes into contact with skin, the hot liquid can cause serious and painful burns. Car accident victims can also receive friction burns on their neck, chest, and arms caused by contact with their seatbelts.
In rare cases, motor vehicles catch on fire during a collision. When a car catches on fire, the driver, passenger, and nearby pedestrians are at risk of suffering burns from the fire. Motor vehicle designers and car manufacturers have a duty to create reasonably safe products. In some instances, a design flaw or manufacturing flaw causes a car to explode in an accident. When a design or manufacturing defect causes the fire that results in a victim’s burn injury, the victim can bring a lawsuit against the designer or manufacturer that breached its duty.
When a driver’s negligence causes a motor vehicle accident that results in burn injuries, the negligent driver may be liable for the resulting damages. Negligent driving includes driving while intoxicated, distracted driving, driving at excessive speeds, and more. Under Tennessee tort law, accident burn injury victims have a right to compensation from the negligent drivers who caused their injuries.
Burn Injuries Caused By Negligence
When a person’s negligent or reckless behavior causes an accident that results in burn injuries, he or she is liable for those injuries. The following are scenarios in which one person may be liable for causing another person’s burn injuries:
- A company negligently manufactures a product, making it likely to cause a fire
- A business owner fails to repair faulting wiring or other electrical fire risks
- A restaurant server negligently hands a customer a cup of scalding liquid, causing a spill
- A home builder negligently builds a home, making it a fire risk
- An industrial company fails to use safety procedures to prevent chemical explosions
- A building does not have enough accessible fire escape exits
- A person or company does not safely store gas or chemicals, increasing the risk of fire
Individuals, businesses, and government entities have a duty to maintain safe environments for guests, customers, and employees. When they breach the duty of reasonable care, injured parties have a right to seek compensation for their injuries.
Seeking Compensation for Burn Injury Damages
Burn injuries can be excruciatingly painful and require significant physical therapy and medical treatment. Many burn injury patients seek treatment in specialized burn centers. Keeping burn injuries clean and free from infection is an ongoing challenge as the burn injuries heal. In severe cases, surgeons conduct skin graft procedures in which they remove healthy skin from another part of the body and graft it into the injured skin. These procedures are expensive and often require lengthy stays and multiple surgeries.
Contact Our Nashville Burn Injury Attorney
At Cummings Law, we fight assertively on behalf of our clients. We know that burn injury victims often face long, hard roads to recovery. That’s why we fight hard for our clients to receive a favorable damages settlement. The liable party should pay for all of the victim’s medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and every other expense related to their burn injury. Contact our Nashville personal injury law firm today to learn how our law firm can fight for you.
