Electrocution Accident & Injury Lawyer

An electric shock injury is often both life-changing and preventable. Louisiana electrocution injury lawyer Bart Bernard understands how these types of injuries impact victims and their families and uses his two decades of experience fighting for their rights.

Construction workers play a valuable but dangerous role in society. Responsible for the labor that builds our commercial and residential structures, those in the construction industry face dangers from extreme power sources, exposed wires, and contact with large machinery. Electrocution from these kinds of dangers kills an average of 400 workers a year and causes non-fatal injuries to many more.

Construction sites and the companies managing them are heavily regulated but that is not always enough. When someone is electrocuted on a work site, it is often because someone, whether out of carelessness or intentionally, did not follow the required safety procedures. In these situations, the electrocution victim or their family may be entitled to compensation for their losses.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), electrocution is one of the leading causes of deaths in the construction industry. In 2015, more than 20% of workplace deaths occurred on construction sites and nearly two-thirds of of those deaths were the result of the “Fatal Four”accidents:

1. Falls (38.8%)
2. Struck by object (9.6%)
3. Electrocution (8.6%)
4. Caught, struck, or crushed by objects such as equipment, structures, or materials

Construction-related electrocutions also accounted for more than half of all occupational electrical deaths.

These are only the fatalities – countless others suffer non-fatal but still serious physical injuries and economic losses after an electrical shock. At the Bart Bernard Injury Lawyers in Lafayette, Louisiana, we are committed to help you through these difficulties, whether you suffered an electrocution injury or are the loved one of someone who was killed by electrical shock.

An electrocution injury, also known as an electrical injury, occurs when an electrical current travels through the body.

The voltage can interfere with the way the internal organs function and the jolt can actually cause the tissue to burn. As electricity travels through the body, it generates a dangerous amount of heat, so the burns can be both at the site of exposure and internally, to the organs.

Electrical shock can also disrupt how the nerves transmit impulses, causing them to either stop or to fire erratically. This can cause:

• Muscles to contract furiously
• Heart attack
• Serious brain activity including seizures
• Extreme swelling in limbs that may cut off blood supply
• Cataracts that develop immediately or years later

The symptoms someone experiences after experiencing a jolt of energy depends on factors that include:

• Type and intensity of the electrical current
• Path the current travels through the body
• How long the exposure lasts
• Electrical resistance

At low levels of exposure, victims may experience numbness in the limbs that can be momentary or persistent, cardiac arrhythmias and other heart abnormalities, and minor burns.

Signs of higher intensity exposure include abdominal pain, shortness of breath, and chest pains caused by internal organ damage. Violent muscle contractions can lead to broken bones and even spinal cord injuries. It can also impact the heart so severely that it simply stops beating, resulting in death.

Competent electrical injury first aid and ongoing necessary medical treatment are obviously the first step in recovering from an electrocution injury. But physical recovery is just a small part of coping process.

Physical injuries can lead to oppressive medical bills. Compounding the problem, they may also impair your ability to work. Add in the mental and emotional trauma that many electrocution victims suffer as a result and it becomes easy to understand why these injuries can be so devastating, even when non-fatal.

Though it cannot undo the experience, if your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence, an experienced electrocution injury lawyer can help you put the pieces of your life back together. You may be entitled to:

• Reimbursement for past and future medical bills
• Payment for pain and suffering
• Lost wages
• Compensation for disability
• Wrongful death compensation for surviving family members in the case of a fatal injury

Electrocution cases should be trusted to an experienced construction accident lawyer with a history of success in these types of construction lawsuits. Rather than involving simple situations of he said-she said, electrocution cases often involve complex industrial regulations, engineering evidence, and medical experts.

An electrocution lawsuit is not something victims are equipped to handle on their own. If you have been injured in an electrical accident in Louisiana, put your trust in a dedicated, skilled, and compassionate personal injury lawyer. The Bart Bernard Injury Lawyers in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana, will fight the insurance companies, site operators, and any other liable party to obtain your just compensation. Call us for a free case evaluation.

1. Merck Manual: Consumer Version, Electrical Injuries, http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/electrical-and-lightning-injuries/electrical-injuries
2. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Commonly Used Statistics, https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html

Last modified: March 10, 2017