LOS ANGELES ELECTRICAL SHOCK ACCIDENTS

Sustaining an electrical shock injury through a construction site accident can lead to serious lasting injuries or even death. When you are injured because a property owner or contractor has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent a foreseeable type of injury, you may be entitled to recover damages for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

What Are Electrical Shock Accidents in California?

Electrical shock injuries need to be taken extremely seriously since they can cause severe, debilitating, and deadly injuries. What is an electrical shock injury? According to WebMD, a person experiences an electric shock when they “come into contact with an electrical emergency source” and “electrical energy flows through a portion of the body causing a shock.”

Depending upon the circumstances, WebMD explains that “exposure to electrical energy may result in no injury at all or may result in devastating damage or death.” Every year, approximately 1,0000 people are killed in electrical shock injuries, and the majority of those injuries occur on the job.

What Determines the Severity of an Electrical Shock Accident and Injury in California?

There are a number of variables that can affect the severity of an electrical shock injury, according to WebMD. Those variables tend to include the following:

Whether the electrical current was AC or DC current;
Amount of the electrical current based on the voltage from the electrical source and the body’s resistance; and
Pathway of the electricity through the person’s body.

Electrical shocks caused by low voltage can result in relatively minor burns, while those caused by high-voltage electricity tend to cause severe injuries.

What Are the Symptoms of an Electric Shock in California?

The following are some of the common symptoms of an electric shock injury:

Burns, especially those that occur in the area where a person came into contact with an electric current such as a hand or heel;
Chest pain, shortness of breath;
Abdominal pain; and/or
Pain in the hand, foot, or another part of the body that may have come into contact with electrical voltage.

Common Injuries Resulting from Electric Shocks

Electrical shock injuries can be severe and life-threatening. According to MedlinePlus, electric current typically causes one of the following types of injuries:

Cardiac arrest, or a heart attack, that results from the effect of an electrical current on a person’s heart;
Destruction of a person’s muscles, nerves, and/or tissue due to the electric current passing through that person’s body;
Thermal burns due to contact with a source that causes an electrical shock; and/or
Injuries from falls, such as brain injuries and broken bones, as a result of falling after coming into contact with an electrical source.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information describes the four types of electrical injuries as “flash, flame, lightning, and true.”

Statute of Limitations for an Electrical Shock Accident

If you are planning to file a workers’ compensation claim after suffering an electrical shock injury, it is critical to know that you must report the injury to your employer within 30 days from the date of the accident, and then you must file your workers’ compensation claim within one year. For a lawsuit or claim based on an electrical shock accident, liability can affect the timeline of your claim.

If the electrical shock injury occurred on public or government property, or if a government employee could be liable, you may need to file a claim within six months. Otherwise, the California personal injury statute of limitations will likely apply, which gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. For an electrical shock accident that results in death, the surviving family members will have two years from the date of the electrocution fatality to file a claim under the California wrongful death statute.

Who is Responsible for My Electric Shock Accident and Injury in California?

Liability for an electrical shock injury will depend upon whether you were injured while working, and how the accident happened. For anyone who sustains an electrical shock injury while working, that injured worker could be eligible to file a California workers’ compensation claim. When an electric shock injury is fatal and a worker is electrocuted, a surviving family member may be able to seek death benefits through the California workers’ compensation system.

For electrical shock injuries that occur outside the workplace, it will be critical to determine whether another party may be liable. Generally speaking, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit if another party’s negligence resulted in your electrical shock injury, or if the electrical shock resulted from the use of a defective product. For electrical shock injuries based on a theory of negligence, you will need to prove that another party owed you a duty of care but acted negligently, and their negligence caused your electric shock injury.

For an electric shock claim based on a defective product, you will likely be filing a strict liability lawsuit and will only need to prove that the liable party designed, made, or sold the defective product and that you were injured by the defect.

Taking Care of Your Long Term Medical Needs

Electrical accidents often result in death or lasting cognitive and physical damage. If you or a loved one has been injured in such an accident, you need to be sure you receive the money you are entitled to for both past and future medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Our experienced electrical shock attorneys aggressively fight to get you the compensation you deserve. We frequently represent:

Independent contractors
Construction workers
Licensed contractors
Tree trimmers
Homeowners

Our Los Angeles electrical shock attorneys have handled countless electrocution cases. Over the years we have acquired the knowledge to get you the money you are entitled to for these serious and often long-lasting electrocution injuries.

Free Consultation

Whether you are a construction worker who experienced an electrical burn while on a metal ladder or a homeowner injured during a gardening or remodeling accident, we can help.

Our electrical shock lawyers work aggressively to get you the money you deserve for all current and future medical expenses.

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