Workers who suffer injuries from defective equipment, machinery, or tools at work often have claims against the product manufacturer in addition to their workers' compensation benefits. These product liability claims can provide substantial compensation that workers' comp doesn't offer, including damages for pain, suffering, and long-term consequences of your injuries.
Product Liability Theory in Workplace Injuries
Product liability law holds manufacturers responsible for injuries caused by defective products. Unlike negligence claims that require proving carelessness, strict product liability focuses on whether the product itself was unreasonably dangerous. This means you don't need to prove the manufacturer was careless, only that the product was defective and that defect caused your injury.
Three types of defects can support product liability claims. Design defects exist when the product's fundamental design makes it unreasonably dangerous, even when manufactured correctly. Manufacturing defects occur when something goes wrong during production, creating a specific unit that differs from the intended design. Failure to warn defects arise when adequate instructions or warnings about known risks weren't provided to users.
Common Workplace Equipment That Causes Injuries
Industrial machinery presents frequent product liability issues when safety guards are inadequate or emergency shutoffs don't function properly. Presses, conveyors, cutting equipment, and automated systems all involve moving parts that can cause catastrophic injuries when safety features fail. Even properly designed machines can become defective when manufacturers fail to anticipate foreseeable misuse or don't provide adequate training materials.
Power tools, lifting equipment, vehicles, and personal protective equipment all give rise to product liability claims when they fail to perform safely. A defective forklift, a malfunctioning power saw, or a safety harness that doesn't hold can result in serious injuries that wouldn't have occurred with a properly designed and manufactured product.
Proving Your Product Liability Claim
Success in product liability cases often depends on preserving the defective product as evidence. If possible, the equipment that caused your injury should be secured and kept in its post-accident condition. Expert witnesses, typically engineers familiar with the product type, will examine the equipment to identify defects and explain how they caused your injuries.
Your attorney will also investigate the product's history, including prior complaints, recalls, and similar incidents. Evidence that the manufacturer knew about defects from earlier problems but failed to correct them can support claims for punitive damages designed to punish particularly egregious conduct.
Damages Available in Manufacturer Liability Claims
Unlike workers' compensation, product liability lawsuits allow recovery of your full spectrum of damages. This includes all medical expenses past and future, complete lost earnings rather than the partial wages workers' comp provides, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and disfigurement or disability. When manufacturer conduct was particularly reckless or showed conscious disregard for safety, punitive damages may also be available.
These comprehensive damages explain why product liability claims often result in recoveries far exceeding workers' compensation benefits. For workers with serious injuries involving permanent disability or ongoing medical needs, the difference can be hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.
Coordinating with Workers' Compensation
You can pursue a product liability claim while receiving workers' compensation benefits. Your employer's workers' comp insurer will typically have a lien against any recovery from the manufacturer, entitling them to reimbursement for benefits paid. However, after satisfying this lien, the remaining recovery belongs to you and represents compensation workers' comp couldn't provide.