Machinery and heavy equipment are part of everyday work on construction sites, roadwork projects, warehouses, factories, and industrial job sites throughout New Jersey. These machines help get the job done, but when something goes wrong, workers can be seriously injured in seconds.
A machinery accident may involve a power tool, forklift, excavator, conveyor system, saw, grinder, air compressor, or another piece of job site equipment. One mistake, equipment failure, missing safety guard, or unsafe worksite condition can lead to broken bones, crushed limbs, burns, head trauma, back injuries, or permanent disability.
Shebell & Shebell, LLC has represented injured workers since 1927. Our attorneys understand how quickly a machinery accident can affect your health, income, and ability to work.
If you were injured by machinery or heavy equipment at work, our workers’ compensation attorneys in New Jersey can help you fight for the medical care and benefits you deserve.
Machinery and Heavy Equipment Accidents We Handle
Machinery accident claims can involve many types of equipment. Some machines are handheld. Others weigh thousands of pounds. Some are used on construction sites, while others are found in warehouses, factories, public works jobs, and industrial settings.
No matter what type of equipment caused the injury, the result can be life-changing.
Construction Machinery and Power Tools
Construction workers often use powered tools and machines every day. Even smaller tools can cause serious injuries when they malfunction, are poorly maintained, lack proper guards, or are used in unsafe conditions.
Construction machinery and power tools may include:
- Jackhammers
- Pneumatic nail guns
- Power sanders
- Concrete grinders
- Circular saws
- Power drills
- Mixers
- Pressure washers
- Generators
- Air compressors
These accidents may involve cuts, puncture wounds, electrical injuries, burns, eye injuries, hand injuries, and crush injuries.
Heavy Equipment and Construction Vehicles
Heavy equipment accidents are especially dangerous because of the size, weight, and force involved. Workers may be struck, pinned, crushed, thrown, or caught between equipment and another object.
Heavy equipment and construction vehicles may include:
- Bulldozers
- Backhoes
- Front loaders
- Excavators
- Road rollers
- Graders
- Boom lifts
- Forklifts
Operators, spotters, laborers, contractors, and nearby workers can all be injured when heavy equipment is not operated, maintained, or controlled safely.
Industrial, Warehouse, and Job Site Equipment
Machinery accidents are not limited to construction sites. Workers in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, loading docks, municipal yards, and industrial plants can also be seriously injured by equipment.
These claims may involve:
- Conveyor systems
- Manufacturing equipment
- Loading dock machinery
- Compactors
- Lifts
- Hoists
- Cranes
- Cutting equipment
- Packaging equipment
A worker may be caught in moving parts, struck by equipment, injured during maintenance, hurt by unstable loads, or injured when a machine fails to shut down properly. If your machinery accident happened on a construction site, a negligent contractor, subcontractor, equipment manufacturer, or property owner may also be liable—speak with our experienced construction accident lawyers to explore every available avenue for compensation
Common Causes of Machinery Accidents
Machinery accidents often happen because someone failed to follow basic safety rules, inspect equipment, train workers, or maintain the job site properly.
Common causes include:
- Lack of training
- Missing guards or safety devices
- Defective equipment
- Poor maintenance
- Unsafe worksite conditions
- Rushed production schedules
- Lack of lockout/tagout procedures
- Poor supervision
- Falling objects or unstable loads
- Equipment tipping or rollovers
- Blind spots around heavy machinery
- Electrocution or power source issues
Sometimes the cause is obvious right away. Other times, it takes investigation to determine whether the accident involved a defective machine, unsafe procedure, negligent subcontractor, poor maintenance, or another problem.
Either way, the focus should be on protecting the injured worker and making sure they receive the benefits they need.
Common Injuries From Machinery and Heavy Equipment Accidents
Because machinery accidents often involve force, speed, sharp parts, electricity, or heavy loads, the injuries can be severe. Some workers recover with treatment and time. Others are left with permanent limitations that affect their ability to return to the same job.
Crush Injuries and Amputations
Crush injuries are among the most serious injuries in machinery accident claims. A worker’s hand, fingers, arm, leg, foot, or another body part may be trapped, pinned, or pulled into equipment.
These accidents can cause:
- Crushed hands, fingers, arms, legs, or limbs
- Amputation injuries
- Nerve damage
- Permanent loss of function
Even when surgery helps, crush injuries can leave lasting pain, weakness, limited movement, and difficulty performing physical work.
Head, Neck, Back, and Spinal Injuries
Machinery and heavy equipment accidents can also cause serious trauma to the head, neck, back, and spine.
These injuries may include:
- Concussions
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Herniated discs
- Spinal cord injuries
A back or neck injury can make it hard to lift, bend, climb, drive, or perform the physical duties required on many job sites. Spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries can be life-changing.
Broken Bones, Burns, and Internal Injuries
Machinery accidents can cause injuries that are not always visible right away. A worker may suffer internal trauma, organ damage, or bleeding after being struck, crushed, thrown, or pinned.
Other common injuries include:
- Broken bones
- Electrical burns
- Internal hemorrhaging
- Organ damage
- Shoulder and knee injuries
- Lacerations and deep tissue injuries
These injuries may require surgery, hospitalization, medication, physical therapy, follow-up appointments, and a long recovery period.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits After a Machinery Accident
If you were injured in a machinery or heavy equipment accident while performing your job, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.
Workers’ compensation may apply even if you did not cause the accident and even if no one was technically “at fault.” The key issue is whether the injury happened in the course of your employment.
Benefits may include:
- Authorized medical treatment
- Surgery
- Physical therapy
- Medication
- Follow-up appointments
- Temporary disability benefits
- Permanent partial disability benefits
- Permanent total disability benefits
- Death benefits for families after fatal accidents
The system is supposed to cover reasonable and necessary medical care and provide wage benefits when an injured worker cannot work. But getting those benefits is not always simple.
Insurance companies may question the injury, delay treatment, dispute surgery, send you to their doctor, or push you back to work before you are ready. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer can help you challenge those tactics and protect your claim.
Can You File a Third-Party Claim After a Machinery Accident?
Workers’ compensation may not be your only option after a machinery or heavy equipment accident.
If someone other than your employer caused or contributed to the accident, you may also have a third-party personal injury claim. This matters because workers’ compensation benefits are limited. A third-party claim may allow you to pursue additional compensation depending on the facts of the case.
A third-party claim may be possible if your accident involved:
- A defective machine or tool
- A negligent subcontractor
- An unsafe property owner
- An equipment rental company that failed to maintain machinery
- A manufacturer or distributor that provided dangerous equipment
- A driver or equipment operator from another company who caused the accident
For example, if a subcontractor operating a forklift hits you on a job site, you may have a workers’ compensation claim and a possible claim against the subcontractor. If a saw, grinder, lift, or other machine failed because of a defect, the manufacturer or another responsible party may need to be investigated.
These cases can be complicated, but they are important to review. Shebell & Shebell can look at how the accident happened, who was involved, and whether another party may be responsible in addition to your workers’ compensation claim.
When Insurance Companies Try to Minimize Machinery Accident Claims
After a machinery accident, the workers’ compensation system is supposed to help you get medical treatment and wage benefits while you recover. But insurance companies do not always make the process easy.
Insurance companies want to save money. That means they may look for reasons to pay less, delay treatment, or question your claim.
They may argue that your injury is not as serious as you say it is. They may challenge whether surgery, physical therapy, medication, or specialist care is necessary. They may pressure you to return to work before your body is ready.
Common issues include:
- Claim denials
- Delayed medical approval
- Disputes over surgery or therapy
- Disputes over the severity of the injury
- Independent Medical Examination issues
- Maximum Medical Improvement disputes
- Permanent disability disputes
- Pressure to return to work too soon
An Independent Medical Examination, or IME, is when the insurance company sends you to a doctor of its choosing. Maximum Medical Improvement, or MMI, means a doctor believes your condition has improved as much as it is expected to improve with treatment.
Sometimes, those opinions are used to stop treatment, reduce benefits, or push an injured worker back onto the job.
Shebell & Shebell pushes back when insurance companies try to minimize machinery accident claims. Our attorneys know how to build strong workers’ compensation cases, challenge unfair decisions, and fight for the benefits injured workers deserve.
What To Do After a Machinery or Heavy Equipment Accident
A machinery accident can be chaotic. You may be in pain, worried about your job, unsure what happened, and pressured to move on quickly.
The steps you take after the accident can help protect your health and your claim.
Report the Accident Immediately
Tell your supervisor, foreman, manager, or employer as soon as possible. Make sure an incident report is created.
Do not assume the injury is too small to report. Some injuries feel manageable at first, then get worse once the adrenaline wears off.
Get Medical Treatment
Get medical care and follow the authorized treatment rules under workers’ compensation.
Do not ignore pain, numbness, weakness, dizziness, burns, swelling, limited movement, or symptoms that keep getting worse. Machinery injuries can involve damage that is not obvious right away, especially when the back, neck, head, nerves, or internal organs are involved.
Document the Equipment and Scene
If you can, keep track of the details surrounding the accident.
Helpful information may include:
- Photos of the machine, tool, equipment, or accident scene
- The make, model, or identifying details of the equipment
- The names of witnesses
- The names of subcontractors or outside companies involved
- Medical records and work status notes
- Texts, emails, or letters from the insurance company
This information can be especially important if the accident involved defective equipment, poor maintenance, an unsafe job site, or another company.
Do Not Rush Back Before You Are Ready
Injured workers are often pressured to return quickly. Sometimes the pressure comes from the employer. Sometimes it comes from the insurance company. Sometimes it comes from the worker wanting to get back to normal.
But returning too soon can make an injury worse.
If you are still in pain, still limited, still waiting for treatment, or still under medical restrictions, be careful before going back to heavy physical work.
Speak With a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
You should speak with a workers’ compensation lawyer if treatment is denied, checks are late, your claim is disputed, or the insurance company says you can return to work before you are ready.
You should also talk to a lawyer if your accident involved defective equipment, a subcontractor, a rental company, a property owner, or another outside party. There may be more than one claim to consider.
Serving Injured Workers Throughout New Jersey
Shebell & Shebell represents injured workers throughout New Jersey from our office in Shrewsbury.
We help workers in Monmouth County, Ocean County, Middlesex County, Mercer County, Burlington County, Somerset County, and communities across the state. Our firm represents people injured in construction, manufacturing, warehouse, roadwork, municipal, industrial, and other physically demanding jobs.
Machinery accident claims are just one part of what we do—learn more about the workers we represent across New Jersey.
Why Choose Shebell & Shebell for a Machinery Accident Claim?
Shebell & Shebell has been fighting for injured workers since 1927. For generations, our firm has represented working people whose lives were disrupted by serious job-related injuries.
Machinery accident claims can involve severe injuries, complicated medical treatment, return-to-work disputes, permanent disability issues, and possible third-party claims. These cases need to be handled carefully from the beginning.
Our attorneys understand New Jersey workers’ compensation claims and serious construction and job site injuries. We know how to identify whether another company, property owner, manufacturer, rental company, or subcontractor may have contributed to the accident.
We are prepared to negotiate when a fair result is possible and argue before workers’ compensation judges when the insurance company refuses to do the right thing.
From our Shrewsbury office, Shebell & Shebell continues to stand up for injured workers throughout New Jersey.
Frequently Asked Questions About Machinery Accident Claims
Can I get workers’ compensation after a machinery accident?
Yes. If you were injured while performing your job duties, you may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.
Workers’ compensation may cover medical treatment, wage benefits, and disability benefits depending on your injury and your ability to work.
What types of machinery accidents are covered?
Claims may involve power tools, forklifts, bulldozers, excavators, saws, grinders, compressors, lifts, warehouse machines, manufacturing equipment, and other work equipment.
If the injury happened while you were doing your job, it may be covered.
What if the machinery was defective?
If defective machinery caused or contributed to your injury, you may have a third-party claim in addition to workers’ compensation.
This may involve the manufacturer, distributor, rental company, maintenance company, or another responsible party.
What if I was partially responsible for the accident?
You may still be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits because workers’ compensation generally does not require proving fault.
Even if you made a mistake, you should not assume you have no claim.
What benefits can I receive after a machinery accident?
Benefits may include medical treatment, temporary disability benefits, permanent disability benefits, and death benefits in fatal cases.
Medical benefits may cover reasonable and necessary treatment such as surgery, physical therapy, medication, specialist care, and follow-up appointments.
Should I speak with a lawyer after a heavy equipment accident?
Yes, especially if your injuries are serious, your treatment is delayed, your benefits are disputed, or another company may have contributed to the accident.
A lawyer can help protect your workers’ compensation claim and determine whether a third-party claim may also be available.
Speak With a New Jersey Machinery Accident Lawyer
If machinery or heavy equipment injured you at work, contact our workers’ compensation attorneys in New Jersey for a free consultation and find out how Shebell & Shebell can help.
There is no cost and no obligation to speak with our team. Call Shebell & Shebell or fill out our online contact form to discuss your legal options.
