A serious welding incident can leave you facing burns, vision loss, or a permanent disability. While you focus on medical care, a Chicago welding accident lawyer from our firm can investigate the cause of the accident and determine who is accountable.
Our experienced construction injury attorneys at Kaveny Sarmas understand that a catastrophic workplace injury affects your health, income, and your family’s future. We can provide direct guidance and personal attention from the beginning of your claim.
Common Causes of Welding Accidents
Welding and cutting expose workers to intense heat, ultraviolet radiation, electricity, and fire. Our Chicago legal team can examine whether unsafe welding equipment, inadequate ventilation, missing protective gear, or poor training contributed to your injury. Serious accidents can involve:
- Explosions or fires near combustible materials
- Electric shock from defective or improperly grounded equipment
- Toxic exposure in enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces
- Eye injuries from arc radiation or flying debris
- Burns caused by sparks, molten metal, or hot surfaces
- Falls from scaffolds, lifts, or elevated work areas
- Defective welding machines, cables, or protective equipment
Federal safety rules require appropriate protective equipment to protect workers from welding hazards. A violation does not automatically establish liability, but it can provide important evidence when we investigate whether any parties ignored reasonable safety measures.
Which Parties Can Be Responsible for a Welding Injury?
While many welders sustain their injuries on the job, workers’ compensation is not the only source of recovery. Your welding accident claim can involve a third party whose negligence caused or contributed to the incident.
Potentially responsible parties include:
- General contractors
- Property owners
- Equipment manufacturers
- Suppliers of defective gas cylinders
State law generally limits lawsuits against an employer for job-related injuries, but 820 Illinois Compiled Statutes 305/5(b) preserves claims against responsible third parties.
Our injury lawyers in Chicago can identify the parties that controlled the work or supplied equipment or those that created and failed to correct a known welding hazard. Our investigation can include photographs, incident reports, safety records, and professional analysis.
Compensation After a Serious Welding Accident
Your workplace injury case can pursue damages that workers’ compensation does not fully address. Depending on the facts, compensation can include past and future medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and loss of normal life.
Our attorneys carefully evaluate your losses because severe burns, brain injury, or permanent vision damage will require lifelong treatment. We work to understand both the medical evidence and the practical effect of the injury on your daily life. Two attorneys from our Chicago firm will support you, giving your welding accident claim sustained attention while keeping you informed.
Time Limits for Your Welding Injury Claim
The state generally requires that you file personal injury lawsuits within two years after the claim accrues under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. Other deadlines can apply to claims involving workers’ compensation, government entities, or defective products.
Our injury lawyers will begin preserving evidence immediately. Jobsites change, employers repair or discard equipment, and witnesses become harder to locate. Early investigation gives your Chicago legal team a stronger opportunity to document the conditions that caused your welding accident.
Contact Our Welding Injury Attorneys in Chicago Today
At Kaveny Sarmas Injury Lawyers, we put the personal in personal injury. We are a client-centered, female-owned firm with big-firm experience, and you work directly with the attorneys handling your case. We are not about cases. We are about YOUR case.
Speak with a Chicago welding accident lawyer from our firm to understand your options and protect your right to pursue compensation. Contact us today for a free consultation about your serious welding injury.