Workplace Accidents
In a workplace accident case, the plant owners or worksite managers know (or should know) that an unsafe condition or potential risk exists and do nothing to either correct the hazard or inform unsuspecting workers of the potential danger.
SMB is one of the country’s leading workplace accident law firms with decades of experience representing victims who have been catastrophically injured or killed as a result of unsafe industrial or workplace conditions.
It’s our job to make sure that worksites are free of hazardous conditions—and to hold the owners of unsafe plants responsible for the catastrophic worker injuries and deaths that result from their negligence.
Andrew R. Duffy
According to government statistics, nearly 3 million workers are injured on the job annually. About 5,000 workers are killed each year in workplace accidents, with more than 20 percent of those fatalities occurring in the construction industry alone. About 40% of all workplace fatalities involve transportation of some kind—typically a car or truck accident, or a mishap that occurs while moving materials on the job.
Some of the most common workplace hazards include:
- Chemicals
- Gas explosions
- Heat and burn risks
- Malfunctioning equipment
But an accident can happen in any workplace setting—even office workers can be seriously injured on the job.
Unmatched Results
SMB has secured numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements for our clients in workplace accident cases:
- $16,500,000 settlement for a millwright who suffered burns over 60 percent of his body when hot slag struck him inside a kiln in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
- $11,700,000 settlement for three plant workers killed and eight others injured—including one seriously burned—when a defective valve led to an acetylene gas explosion
- $101,000,000 settlement for 34 victims (including four fatalities) of Tropicana Casino parking garage collapse in Atlantic City, NJ
- $36,000,000 settlement for property damage victims in Montgomery County apartment complex caused by construction adjacent to apartment buildings
- $17,000,000 record-setting settlement for family of worker killed by overloaded crane hook
- $14,000,000 settlement for roofer who suffered traumatic brain injury on the job from defective hoist
- $13,000,000 settlement for crane operator who suffered catastrophic leg injuries, including amputation of his right leg, during construction of Harrah’s Casino in Chester, Pennsylvania
- $12,700,000 settlement for seven workers injured in scaffold collapse during construction of Kimmel Center in Philadelphia
- $12,000,000 settlement for roofer paralyzed by 40-foot fall
- $26,550,000$26.550 million is being provided to former landscape service worker David Williams, 32, because those responsible for maintaining his company truck ...Read Story
- $8,500,000A man who suffered a traumatic brain injury and spastic paraplegia from a work accident will be compensated $8.5 million as a result of a settlement ...Read Story
- $36,000,000Less than 14 months after a devastating apartment building fire in Conshohocken, Pa., left scores of residents homeless, lawyers unveiled a global ...Read Story
- $11,000,000A settlement worth nearly $11 million was reached last week during the sixth day of trial in a wrongful death suit brought by the wife and estate of ...Read Story
- $24,100,000According to court papers, plaintiff Leon Oates, a construction worker, broke through a drop ceiling tile during the construction project and fell ...Read Story
- $10,000,000In 2009, a deal struck moments before jury selection in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court was set to begin, Dietz & Watson agreed to pay $10 ...Read Story
Unmatched Experience
From analyzing evidence to selecting the most qualified safety and medical experts, SMB has mastered the difficult task of establishing a relationship between workplace conditions and the injuries that occur there. Working with independent experts, SMB attorneys thoroughly investigate such factors as:
- The worksite managers’ and plant owners’ prior knowledge of the hazardous conditions and their failure to correct or warn others about it
- Adherence to federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and the safety and operating procedures of the defendant companies
SMB bolsters its cases with the innovative use of video brochures—mini-documentaries that powerfully illustrate our clients’ pain and suffering and include victim, family, witness, and expert interviews and excerpts from the defendants’ depositions. These presentations often convince defendants to agree to high-value settlements, or, if settlement negotiations fail, persuade juries to award large verdicts.
Besides representing our injured clients, SMB’s lawyers have also been some of the leading advocates in the plaintiff’s bar for making sure U.S. workplace conditions are improved to ensure worker safety and reduce the number of future accidents.
Unmatched Compensation
Employers, office and factory owners, property managers, equipment manufacturers, and maintenance firms may all be liable in a workplace accident case. SMB works tirelessly to help you get all the compensation to which you may be entitled–including payments for pain and suffering, emotional trauma, past, and future medical expenses, lost income, and future earnings.
If you have been injured, or a family member has been injured or killed, as a result of a workplace accident, SMB is committed to obtaining all the results you need and deserve.