Power tools of all shapes and sizes are indispensable on all sorts of industrial worksites here in Illinois and Indiana. They are also very dangerous. Workers in our construction, warehousing, trucking, rail, utility, manufacturing, and steel industries (among others) need to know about the risks of bodily injury that comes with the use of any power tool. Workers should also be aware of the legal duties of care and safety against tool accidents they are due by employers and others on the jobsite.
Workers have established legal rights to be protected from power tool risks and hazards. Nevertheless, each year there will be severe or fatal work accidents involving power tools that forever change the life of the worker victim and their loved ones despite these legal protections. For these injured workers, legal recourse may be available not only pursuant to standard claims through workers’ compensation laws but also through personal injury causes of action involving several different parties. For more, read Hand and Power Tools: the Danger of Serious Work Accident Injuries and Worker Injuries Involving Industrial Equipment, Machinery, or Tools.
Power Tools on Industrial Worksites
Most people will recognize that an electric drill or nail gun will be a commonplace power tool on any local construction site. However, industrial technologies are constantly advancing the types and styles of power tools made and sold in this country. Power tools today can be very sophisticated, complex, unique, and unfortunately prone to failure for several reasons.
Power tools are big business. In fact, industrial forecasts predict that the market share for the U.S. power tool industry will almost double in size from 2015 ($9.44 Billion) to 2027 ($16.21 Billion). Read, “Market size of power tools in the United States from 2015 to 2020, with forecasts through 2027,” written by Martin Placek and published by Statista on April 19, 2022.
What is a power tool?
As a general rule, a power tool is anything on an industrial worksite that requires an outside power source to operate. This makes power tools different from “hand tools” which may be used for comparable tasks but needs only manual labor in order to function. For instance, a hammer is a hand tool that can drive a nail into a board. A nail gun is a power tool that can do the same thing.
Power tools can be either “stationary” or “portable.” Things like table saws are stationary power tools, because they are installed or placed on the job site and do not move around. Machine tools in metalwork are another type of stationary power tool.
Portable power tools can be carried by the worker around the site, to be used as needed. They are mobile and held by hand. Nail guns and angle grinders are two examples of portable power tools.
Popular power tools
According to a 2014 survey conducted by Contractor magazine, the most popular power tools used by the construction industry are: hammer drills; reciprocating saws; power drills; circular saws; rotary hammers; and floor drivers. For details, read, “Power Tool Survey: The most Used Power Tools by Contractors,” written by Candace Roulo and published by Contractor on April 9, 2014.
Metalworkers are most likely to use the following power tools, according to American Rotary: welding machine; band saw; angle grinder; bench grinder; drill press; press brake; 3-phase converter as power source. Read, The Most Important Metalworking Tools To Have In Your Shop, published by American Rotary Phase Converters.
Work Accidents: Liability for Power Tool Injuries
Despite the popularity of power tools for our industrial workers and the blossoming power tool industry itself, safety agencies and those advocating for worker victims and their loved ones recognize that too many preventable work accidents occur involving power tools. People can suffer life-altering injuries suddenly or even die in a power tool accident. See, e.g., Power Tools and the Risk of Serious or Deadly Construction Accidents.
When this happens, the worker victim and their loved ones must consider not only the obvious worker’s compensation claims available to them under the state law of Illinois or Indiana, but the possible legal liabilities of several third parties when faulty or flawed power tools have caused harm.
In some situations, the employer who signs the worker’s paycheck may have personal injury liability if it can be shown by the worker-plaintiff that the employer’s deliberate bad acts resulted in the power tool injury. Investigations may also show various third-party companies must answer for their contributions to the work accident.
These include:
- The designer of the power tool
- The manufacturer of the power tool
- The company that marketed the power tool for the particular use on the site
- Wholesalers, distributors, or middlemen between the manufacturer and the retailer
- The vendor (retailer) who sold the power tool to the company that provided it to the worker
- The company that installed or supplied the power tool to the worksite
- The company that installed or supplied the power source for the power tool on the worksite
- The company that contracted to repair and/or maintain the power tools on the worksite
- The landowner or premises owner of the industrial workplace.
This list does not have to be mutually exclusive, either. Experts reviewing the work accident and the events surrounding the power tool injuries may reveal that more than one entity contributed to the tragedy.
Legal claims in these situations may proceed under state product liability law as well as negligence law. In a product liability matter, the worker-plaintiff must prove up that there was a defect or flaw in the power tool itself.
Justice for Workers Hurt or Killed in Power Tool Accidents on the Job
There are some cases where power tool injuries form the basis of significant lawsuits involving several different companies all involved in aspects of the power tool’s flaw or failure. This may include all those involved in the power tool’s chain of distribution, as it moved from design to manufacture, to marketing, sales, distribution, and ultimate placement for use on the worksite.
Worker victims and their loved ones who are suffering in the aftermath of a serious power tool work accident have a legal right to independently investigate their legal avenues for justice that may include workers’ compensation as well as negligence or product liability claims. Every work accident must be given respect for its own unique circumstances.
Power tool injuries, particularly those that cause life-altering injuries such as amputation or have fatal results either at the time of the accident or in the weeks or months afterwards, may form the basis of damage claims that involve:
- Wrongful death damages
- Medical care expenses (past, present, future)
- Psychological treatment
- Rehabilitation costs
- Loss of earning capacity
- Lost wages
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium.
For more, read:
- Wrongful Death Damages After Fatal Work Accidents in Illinois or Indiana
- Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana: Workers Compensation Claim vs. Personal Injury Damages
- Loss of Consortium Damages in Illinois or Indiana Work Accidents
- Loss of Earning Capacity Damages After Accident in Illinois or Indiana
- Catastrophic Injuries in an Accident: Damages for the Loss of a Normal Life
- What are Legal Damages After a Work-Related Accident in Indiana or Illinois?
Power tools may be overlooked by those with legal duties of safety and care on the industrial worksite for many reasons, not the least of which is how routine the use of power tools is each day and therefore, easily disregarded or ignored. Power tools, particularly on our construction sites and in our metalwork industries, often cause horrific injuries or death. Please be careful out there!
