It’s no doubt that power tools are extremely dangerous, especially when handled by a user who has little to no experience with or skill in using electric, pneumatic, fuel-powered, power-actuated, or hydraulic-powered power tools.

As if power tools were not dangerous enough as is, there are many defective power tools that can malfunction any second while in use. Many of them are recalled before someone gets hurt, while others remain on the market for years.

“Power tools and equipment are extremely dangerous when operated by an inexperienced user given that they move very fast and require a high level of strength, pressure, and precision when using them,” says our Philadelphia defective and dangerous power tools attorney from Dan Doyle Law Group.

Fact: According to the Consumer Public Safety Commission, more than 400,000 Americans get injured and up to 200 die while using power tools each year.

How to seek compensation for a power tool-related injury?

It goes without saying that construction workers or those who work in such industries as oil drilling, agriculture, manufacturing, and home improvement are more likely to get injured or even die from using a dangerous or defective power tool.

That’s simply because these people use these tools and equipment more often even though they are more experienced and skilled in handling these potentially dangerous power tools compared to a regular Joe who uses power tools for home improvement and renovations at home every now and then.

Seeking compensation for an injury caused by defective or dangerous power tools is quite straightforward if you were injured in the workplace while performing your job duties. In that case, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance will most likely cover the damages and losses associated with your power tool-related injury at work.

Recovering damages via product liability

For those who sustain an injury while using a power tool such as a chainsaw, wood chippers, nail guns, drills, power saws, welding equipment and other types of power tools at home, recovering damages becomes much more complicated for two reasons:

  1. In order to seek compensation from the manufacturer of the power tool, which caused your injury and had (a) a manufacturing defect, (b) design defect, or (c) warning defect, you will have to establish negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty on the part of the manufacturer and other parties through the legal doctrine of product liability. In the event of an on-the-job injury involving the use of a power tool, meanwhile, a worker does not have to establish negligence in order to recover damages.
  2. A skilled construction worker is more likely to be believed that he or she used the power tool in a reasonably foreseeable manner or as instructed by the manufacturer, while a regular user who is not as proficient in using power tools may have a hard time proving that the tool was used in a reasonably foreseeable way unless he/she is represented by an experienced defective product attorney.

Burden of proof to sue for dangerous or defective power tool

While all of us expect a power tool that we purchase to work as advertised by the manufacturer, that’s not always the case. Many power tools available on the market in Pennsylvania and all across the United States come with a manufacturing defect, inherently safe design, or lack of adequate warning.

When someone uses a dangerous or defective power tool or equipment, he or she exposes himself or herself to the risk of injury, ranging from electrocution injuries, burns, piercing wounds, lacerations and cuts, to severed fingers, amputations, crush injuries, fractured bones, and disfigurement.

Regardless of which power tool you were using at the time of injury – be it a table saw, chainsaw, nail gun, wood chipper, snowblower, lawnmower, circular law, power drill, hoists, welding equipment, wenches, air compressors, power sanders, or any other power tool – be sure that the manufacturer of that dangerous or defective power tool will shift the blame on to you by arguing that the tool was used negligently or improperly.

Thus, you will face the burden of proof to establish that the power tool was used in a reasonably foreseeable manner and as instructed by the manufacturer in the warning or instruction labels. Let our defective tool lawyers from Dan Doyle Law Group evaluate your particular case and help you prove that the power tool had a manufacturing defect, was inherently dangerous by design, or was sold with inadequate warning or instruction labels.

Schedule a free consultation by contacting our law firm today.