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A serious burn is one of the most painful and life-changing injuries a worker can suffer. If you were burned on the job in Bucks County, Pennsylvania law gives you the right to Bucks County workers’ compensation benefits, and in many cases a separate claim against a negligent third party. For over 34 years, Lerner, Steinberg & Associates has fought for injured workers across the county and helped them recover the medical care and lost wages they are owed.
Pennsylvania workers’ compensation covers almost every worker burned on the job, no matter who caused the accident. If a fire, a hot surface, steam, a chemical, or an electrical fault injured you at work, your employer’s insurance must pay for your medical treatment and replace part of your lost wages while you recover.
Benefits for burn injuries include all reasonable and necessary medical care, wage loss benefits equal to about two-thirds of your average weekly wage, specific loss benefits for permanent scarring or the loss of use of a body part, and death benefits for the families of workers killed in fatal accidents. Pennsylvania law also provides specific loss benefits for serious, permanent disfigurement of the head, face, or neck, which matters a great deal in burn cases.
Burn risks follow the work. Across Bucks County, the manufacturing plants and warehouses along the Route 1 and I-95 corridors expose workers to hot machinery, molten material, steam lines, and industrial chemicals. Restaurant and food-service workers face scalding liquids, grease fires, and hot equipment. Electricians, utility crews, and maintenance workers risk electrical burns and arc flash, while construction crews encounter chemical burns from cement and solvents along with fire and hot-work hazards like welding and torch cutting.
Serious burns often require treatment at a regional burn center, followed by skin grafts, reconstructive surgery, and months of rehabilitation. The cost of that care, and the long time many burn victims need away from work, is exactly what workers’ compensation is meant to cover. Acting quickly protects your right to those benefits.
Workers’ compensation does not pay for pain and suffering. Many burn injuries, though, are caused by someone other than your employer, such as the maker of a defective machine, the manufacturer of a mislabeled chemical, a property owner, or another contractor on the site. When a third party’s carelessness played a role in your burn, you can bring a separate personal injury claim against that party on top of your workers’ comp claim.
This two-track approach is one of the most valuable and overlooked rights an injured worker has. Our attorneys review every burn case for third-party liability so that no source of compensation is missed.
Several parties beyond your employer may share responsibility for a workplace burn.
Identifying every responsible party early gives you the best chance at a full recovery.
Burns differ in cause and severity, and each type calls for its own medical and legal approach. We handle workplace burn claims of every kind, including the following.
Flames, hot surfaces, steam, and hot liquids cause the most common workplace burns, from commercial kitchens to factory floors.
Acids, solvents, and industrial cleaners can burn skin and eyes and may support a claim against the maker of the chemical.
Contact with live wires and arc flash events cause deep burns and other serious injuries for electricians and utility crews.
Hot water, oil, and steam injure food-service, healthcare, and manufacturing workers, often on the hands and arms.
Conveyor belts, grinders, and other moving equipment cause friction burns that can require skin grafts to heal.
When a worker dies from burns or smoke inhalation, surviving family members may qualify for death benefits.
When a burn accident involves a broken OSHA safety rule, such as missing chemical labels, no protective gear, poor machine guarding, or unsafe hot-work practices, that violation becomes strong evidence of negligence. It can support both your workers’ comp case and any third-party claim. Our attorneys check OSHA compliance on every burn case and use violations to build the strongest claim possible.
Some employers label workers as independent contractors to avoid paying for workers’ compensation. In Pennsylvania, that label does not automatically remove your right to benefits. The law looks at how the work was actually controlled and performed. Our attorneys challenge improper classifications that try to deny injured workers the coverage they have earned.
Pennsylvania sets firm deadlines, and missing even one can end your right to compensation. Three separate clocks matter in every burn case.
Because these deadlines move quickly, the safest step is to speak with a lawyer soon after your injury. You can review the state’s official program through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, then reach out to our office for guidance.
For more than three decades, Mike Lerner and Ben Steinberg have handled workers’ compensation and injury cases for people across Bucks County, and they work on every burn case personally. You deal directly with an attorney, never a case file. They know how insurers value burn injuries, and they push for the full medical care, wage loss, and disfigurement benefits Pennsylvania law allows.
We pursue every avenue of recovery, including workers’ comp, third-party claims, and product liability, and we work on a contingency basis, so you owe no fee unless we win. If you were burned at work anywhere in Bucks County, contact our office for a free consultation and an honest review of your claim.
