Man Seriously Injured While Fixing Elevator

About 27 people are killed each year in elevator accidents according to Consumer Watch. In addition, over 10,000 people are injured mainly due to “elevator door malfunction, carriage misalignment with floors, and passenger safety vulnerabilities.” Recently, a maintenance worker from New York City suffered a devastating elevator injury while on the job.

Man Loses Arm While Fixing Elevator

While performing maintenance on an elevator in lower Manhattan, an elevator technician was the victim of a horrific accident that severed his arm at the elbow.

Witnesses recall hearing a crash and then hearing the technician, who has remained unnamed, screaming for help. Firefighters who responded to the scene rushed in buckets of ice to preserve the arm as the victim was rushed to the hospital. He underwent surgery, and is expected to live.

Worker’s Compensation Not Always an Option

For injuries that happen at the workplace and on the clock, worker’s compensation can often provide the coverage that victims need in order to get back on their feet. However, the worker’s compensation scheme comes with a trade-off – if you receive worker’s compensation from your employer, then you will not be able to take them to court over the injury.

Additionally, more and more employers are electing to only take on independent contractors, instead of legitimate employees. For independent contractors, worker’s compensation is almost never an option.

Products Liability Claims Can Be a Possibility

Just because you were on the job does not mean that you cannot pursue a products liability lawsuit to get compensated for your injuries. When a product or a piece of equipment – in this case, an elevator – is defective or malfunctions, and this causes your injury, a products liability claim can be made against the manufacturer for their mistakes. This can even be the case if you were fixing the product or providing maintenance work.

Other Negligence Can Also Be a Factor

Some of the residents in the Manhattan building where the man was injured stated that the elevator he was fixing had just been installed about a month earlier. If the installation team was negligent or made a mistake when they put the elevator in, and that mistake caused the elevator to malfunction while the maintenance worker was fixing it, then they could also be held liable for the worker’s injury.

Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys

As always, in the immediate aftermath of a terrible injury, your first priority should be the healing process. However, once the dust has settled, it is important to think about who was ultimately responsible for your injuries, and how you can be compensated by them. That is where the personal injury attorneys at Gilman & Bedigian come into play. Contact our law offices in the Baltimore and Philadelphia areas online, or at (800) 529-6162.