Greg Baumgartner shares his insights from a career as an attorney who has helped many people with their personal injuries.
Where and under what conditions are the most common accidents that involve electricity?
The majority of cases we’ve handled that involved electrical injuries are related to construction sites or workplace activities. A small percentage of electrical injuries occur in residential settings. We have discovered that the construction and maintenance industries are most vulnerable to electrocution.
Electrical injury cases in manufacturing are often related to maintenance and general operations. Someone has violated safety rules when a worker is exposed to a live electrical current.
Electrocution is often the result of workers who were not properly trained or did not lock out and tag out. In some cases, electrocution was the cause of wrongful death when a defective product was involved. Product cases can involve defectively made products.
In some cases, we have dealt with electricians who did not do the job correctly and left behind a potentially dangerous situation.
What types of injuries can electrical contact cause? How serious are the cases you have seen, and can they be life-altering?
In the majority of our cases, there has been a fatality. Contact with an electrical source can be fatal. Most often, the person who survives electrocution is lucky. If they survive, those who have suffered serious injuries may take a long time to heal.
What are the reasons why it is important to conduct a post-accident examination when there is an electrical source involved, and what steps should be taken?
After a serious injury or death, it is vital to conduct an immediate investigation. It is important to hire an attorney who has experience in electrocution. Expert witnesses are usually hired in most accident investigations to determine what caused the accident and whether the injury could have possibly been avoided. Delay can be detrimental to the case, and it may even become impossible to prove.
After a serious injury accident or wrongful demise, it is vital to conduct an immediate investigation.
OSHA investigates many workplace accidents, but we think it is better to have your representative conduct their own investigation than to rely on OSHA.
Families or victims of injury must act fast to preserve evidence and prevent it from being altered or destroyed.
What determines whether an accident resulting in an electrical injury falls under premises liability or product liability?
As we have already mentioned, the most common violation that we see is when lock-out and tag-out rules are ignored or not followed.
Most lock-out-tag-out cases are the result of negligence by a company, and not product liability. We have seen cases of product liability where an electrical source was improperly grounded and caused a fatality. It is important to conduct an investigation as soon as possible after the incident in order to determine who was responsible.
What can an experienced electrical injury lawyer do to help a victim obtain compensation?
It is crucial that the client hires an attorney with experience who has not been learning on the job. The client must not only know what to do, but also have the expertise and experience to maximize compensation for the victim.
What would be your first advice to someone who was recently the victim of an electrical accident?
Do your research if you are suffering from severe injuries or have lost someone close to you. Hire the most experienced and best-qualified personal injury lawyer in your area as soon as you can.
Insurance companies benefit from delay. Delay can cause important evidence to be lost, which makes it difficult or impossible for the insurance company to pursue the case.
Greg Baumgartner, Founder
6711 Cypress creek Pkwy Houston, Texas 77069
Tel: +1 281-587-1111
Greg Baumgartneris the founder and personal injury attorney of Baumgartner Law Firm in Houston. Greg Baumgartner is a lawyer with two law degrees. He is also rated as ‘preeminent. He is a Trial Lawyers College Graduate and co-founder the NW Houston Bar Association. Greg has been practicing personal injury law in Houston for more than 35 years. He has also given many presentations on personal injury to lawyers groups.
Baumgartner Law Firmis an injury law firm located in Houston, Texas. The firm was founded in 1985 and only takes serious injury and wrongful deaths cases. It has been recognized by Newsweek and other organisations such as Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Super Lawyers.