“Caught-in” injuries are among the most serious injuries experienced by St. Louis construction workers. In fact these crush injuries are among the “Fatal Four” workplace hazards listed by OSHA.
Crush injuries can occur in any industry, but most commonly happen in the manufacturing, production, and construction fields. They typically occur when employees are working with machinery and a part of their body – usually a finger or hand – becomes entangled in the machine. If the machine is still on, the person’s fingers can become crushed, requiring emergency treatment.
Caught-In Injuries Resulting From Entanglement
When your body is crushed between two objects, muscle cells begin to die almost instantly. When stuck in a pinch point, one’s vessels are often compressed, cutting off blood flow to muscles and tissue, and resulting in cell death.
Crush victims can sustain any number of injuries including:
- Muscle damage
- Nerve damage
- Damage to skin tissue
- Compartment syndrome
- Severing of limbs
- The need for amputation of limbs
- Broken bones
- Paralysis
- Organ damage
- Death
The extent of the crush injury will depend upon the amount of force of the crush, the part of the body involved, and the length of time the person is stuck between two objects. It is often the extremities, hands, feet, legs, and arms, involved in a crush accident, but nearly any body part or the entire person can become trapped.
Workers Compensation Claims For Caught-in Injuries
Crush injuries frequently lead to severe disability, and have a high chance of additional complications, including infection, swelling, blood clots, phantom pain, the need for further amputation, and heart problems.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, our workers compensation attorneys represent clients throughout all of Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. If you’ve been so severely injured on the job that you can’t come to our office, we’ll travel to you. That’s just one way our attorneys put CLIENTS first. Call us for a free consultation at 314-444-4444 any time.
