Electric Shocks Responsible for Numerous Deaths and Injuries in Virginia (VA)

At some point in most of our lives we have probably all felt the tingle of an electrical shock, be it from static electricity on a carpet or getting out of a car. Although we can usually walk away, electricity can injure and even kill. Shocks and electrocution can also lead to lawsuits if a third party has been negligent.
 

Check out these related electric shock and electrocution articles and case results: Pilot Suffered Career-Ending Electrical Shock Injury at Hotel and Settled Suit Shortly Before Federal Court Jury Trial Electric Shock Injury and Electrocution (Video) Electrical Shock, Explosions, Industrial Explosions & Accidents Two Arkansas (AR) Ground Workers Suffer Electric Shock From Overhead Power Line

Electrical shock injuries can have many causes, ranging from faulty wiring, defective sockets, water penetration or badly maintained electrical equipment, and they can occur in everyday settings.

Situations in which people can suffer shocks or electrocutions include the following:

• Electrical shock involving cranes or hoists: Crane operators and construction workers are particularly at risk from electrocution. Many work-related injuries and deaths occur when a worker touches electrified wires or conductor bars. Often aging installations are to blame including bare wires installed more than half a century ago. Exposed electrical crane and hoist trolley conductors can be extremely dangerous to workers. Cranes can easily come into contact with overhead power lines, causing injuries.
• Shocks from electrical contracting: Sometimes the activities of a contractor can come under scrutiny if wiring or other electrical work is substandard. In 2009 we reported on a case in which a 14-year-old girl was tragically killed after grabbing a steel fence around a softball field that was in contact with a buried and unshielded live, electrical cable. The City of Baltimore said it bore no liability because an independent utility and a contractor handled the wiring and construction. Neither the utility nor the contractor said they were at fault. There are clear dangers in contracting work. In March 2011 we reported how a man who was contracted to do some lighting work at Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport in Laurel, Missouri (MS), was electrocuted.
• Power line repairs: Power lines can cause an electrocution hazard for workers and for people living close to them. In 2009, a South Carolina, jury awarded a record $9 million to a family whose son was killed after a high-voltage power line landed in their driveway. The jury agreed with the argument that the power company was negligent in the upkeep of the pole in question.

Although electrical shock and electrocution injuries are not as high profile as car wrecks or accidents in coal mines, the numbers of workers who suffer a shock are a cause for alarm. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electrical injuries are responsible for an average of 320 deaths and 4,000 injuries a year in the United States.

Our experienced VA industrial accident injury attorneys note the potential for electrical shocks, fires and burns when construction, electrical work or renovation activities are taking place. Often these workplace accidents are caused by a third party's negligence, carelessness or violation of a regulation. While compensation laws prohibit lawsuits against one's own employer, a third party, is responsible for a negligent action, a defective product or some other violation of a regulation. That's where our Virginia personal injury attorneys step in. We have the depth of knowledge to investigate and to bring such third-party claims on behalf of injured clients or family members who have been tragically killed in industrial settings.

DM