At the Manchin Injury Law Group in Fairmont, our West Virginia work accident lawyers help people who have been injured while working for oil, gas, timber, coal industry and construction employers operating in North Central West Virginia. As a firm, we have been doing this type of work for more than 30 years, and we use all of our experience, resources and skills to help your family recover the compensation you need and deserve.
Call us at (304) 367-1862 today to arrange for a free consultation with one of our experienced work accident attorneys.
A work accident lawyer can take care of the legal side of your case from start to finish. This may include pursuing workers’ compensation benefits from your employer’s insurance company or bringing a lawsuit against your employer (or a third party) for negligence. Negligence means the failure to keep workers safe through reasonable care, such as maintaining a safe work environment. You may have grounds for one or both types of claims.
An experienced work injury attorney in West Virginia will carefully investigate your work accident and help you understand your legal options. Then, your lawyer will fill out and file all of the legal forms required to initiate your claim. Your lawyer will support your case with as much clear and compelling evidence as possible. This may include hiring experts and consultants to strengthen your work injury case. A West Virginia personal injury lawyer will work tirelessly to secure optimal results on your behalf.
A few different deadlines may apply to your work injury case in West Virginia. First, to qualify for workers’ compensation, you must file an application for benefits no more than six months from the date of your injury. If you are bringing a claim for an occupational disease or illness, you have three years from the date of the diagnosis or three years from your last exposure to the hazardous condition that caused your illness.
Next, if you plan on filing a lawsuit against your employer or a third party for causing your work injury, you must contend with West Virginia’s statewide statute of limitations. This law gives a strict deadline by which all personal injury plaintiffs must file their lawsuits. The statute of limitations is two years from the date of the incident, in most cases. In general, if you fail to file on time, you will lose the right to seek compensation in West Virginia.
Any workplace can contain potential injury hazards. However, some industries are more dangerous than others by their nature. The construction industry, for example, consistently has the highest number of worker deaths in the U.S., according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Certain elements in some workplaces are inherently dangerous, such as heavy machinery and equipment. Some of the most common types of work accidents reported in West Virginia are:
A serious accident at work can inflict life-changing injuries. Every year, thousands of West Virginia workers are sent to emergency rooms with occupational injuries and illnesses. These include bone fractures, head and brain injuries, back and spinal cord injuries, permanent paralysis, burn injuries, amputations, and lacerations. At Manchin Injury Law Group, our lawyers are experienced enough to handle a work injury case involving any type of accident and injury diagnosis.
Throughout history, workers involved in the oil, gas, timber and coal industries have experienced serious and fatal accidents more frequently than in other industries in West Virginia. For example, at gas well sites, workers can suffer burns or be injured by explosions or drilling rig collapses. In coal mines, workers are often injured by roof falls, explosions or equipment malfunctions.
Employers in these industries often ignore important safety requirements issued by OSHA or the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). If a worker in one of these industries is seriously injured as the result of an OSHA or MSHA safety violation, they can collect workers’ compensation benefits and may also file a lawsuit directly against their employer for damages in excess of those paid for by workers’ compensation.
In addition to handling personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against employers, defective product makers and insurers, we help clients in other important ways as well. Whether that means coordinating medical treatment and dealing with insurance coverage issues, or issuing a payment guarantee to your landlord or mortgage holder — we will be here for you and do whatever we can to help if you have been injured on the job in the oil, gas, timber or coal industries.
Talk to our dedicated personal injury lawyers about your claim today by calling us at (304) 367-1862 or contacting us online. Remember that you pay no attorney fees unless we obtain a verdict or an acceptable settlement offer on your behalf.
