Torrance Amazon Workplace Injury Lawyer

Amazon has long held a dominance in the warehouse industry, providing substantial work opportunities for employees and providing goods and services at incredible speed and affordability. Unfortunately, this dominance has come at a significant cost to its employees’ health and safety. Case in point, Amazon accounts for a third of all warehouse workers across the industry and over half of all warehouse injuries that occur each year.

Amazon workers in Torrance are entitled to a safe working environment, no matter what performance or metrics demands are placed on them. Fast delivery times should never have a higher priority in a business than worker safety. If you have experienced a workplace injury while working at Amazon, it is important that you understand your rights and pursue fair and complete compensation for all of your damages.

Torrance Amazon Workplace Injury and Accident Lawyers

Partnering with a qualified and experienced Amazon workplace injury attorney is the most effective means to ensure full compensation for your injury or loss. The attorneys at Pratt Law Corporation have handled workplace injury claims for clients all around Torrance and its surrounding areas. We maintain an extensive knowledge of workers’ compensation law that we leverage in each and every case, helping our clients to secure maximum compensatory benefits that often exceed initial expectations.

While every individual case is unique, our extensive familiarity with workers’ compensation claim processes enables us to guide our clients through the legal processes of recovering compensation smoothly and effectively. We can help you understand what to expect and how to approach filing a claim—especially with such a large corporation as Amazon. We’ve developed proven strategies for the success of handling many cases occurring at Amazon facilities and are ready to take on your case.

What Is Amazon’s Injury Rate for Warehouse Workers?

Amazon’s warehouses, known as fulfillment centers, have unfortunately built a reputation for a high rate of incidence of injuries over the last decade. In the past couple of years, Amazon’s fulfillment centers have averaged an injury rate of 6.8 per 100—double that of all other warehouses, which hover around 3.3 injuries per 100 workers.

The injury rate is even higher across California, which remains home to the highest number of Amazon fulfillment centers across the nation. Throughout its warehouses, Amazon workers in California experience an average of at least 7.9 cases per 100 workers, with 9/10 accidents requiring time off work to recover. The state further bears the greatest burden for workplace accidents throughout Amazon, as these statistics remain true across some of Amazon’s largest facilities, all located in southern California as San Bernardino, Fresno, Rialto, Moreno Valley, Bakersfield, Beaumont, and Eastvale all maintain facilities with employee counts that exceed several thousand.

Despite contributing to California’s job market and economy with its services and warehouses, Amazon continues to allow the greatest number of workplace accidents and injuries experienced throughout its company to occur in the Golden State.

What Are California’s Workers’ Compensation Laws?

Any worker in California who suffers an injury or an illness while performing work-related tasks or while at a place of employment is entitled to recover all damages incurred by filing a claim through their employer’s insurance plan. The state’s workers’ compensation laws exist to ensure workers are protected against loss in the event of a workplace accident or injury. Amazon, like all other California employers, is required to carry this type of insurance.

Most employers are prompt in processing workers’ compensation claims, helping their employees with what they need. However, on occasion, workers can experience obstacles to receiving compensation if either their employer or the insurance company fails to accept responsibility for the accident or injury in question.

If Amazon alleges, for instance, that a contracted illness did not originate on company property or that an injury sustained took place outside of company property or off the employee’s work clock, they may challenge the claim and thereby hinder your claim’s process. If you are pursuing a workers’ compensation claim and are experiencing challenges from Amazon or its insurance company, speak with a qualified and skilled attorney who can represent you in your claim and ensure appropriate action is taken.

What Happens if You Get Injured While Working at Amazon?

While workplace injuries are certainly preventable, they are not completely avoidable occurrences. Workplace injuries can be the result of one-time accidents or can occur over time from repetitive exposure or strain. When an injury or accident occurs, it is important to follow several necessary steps:

• Report your injury to your employer. It is essential that you inform your supervisor as soon as you become aware of your injury. This initiates the documentation process and provides a clear time and place of incidence. Since you will ultimately be filing a claim through your employer, you cannot avoid including them in the process anyway, so it is most convenient to do so from the outset.
• Seek immediate medical attention. Depending on the severity of the injury, this step may be done first. Warehouse facilities should have emergency kits or trained professionals on-site to assist with immediate medical needs, though emergency care may be necessary. For injuries that occur slowly over time, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor as soon as you suspect something is amiss.
• Speak with an experienced workers’ compensation attorney. Partnering with a qualified and skilled lawyer can provide you with proper legal guidance in navigating each step and can ensure that your rights are upheld throughout the claim. The right attorney can discuss the details of your case and offer appropriate recommendations for your options.
• File an official workers’ compensation claim. After you have sought medical attention, informed your employer of your accident and intent to file, and have spoken with an accident attorney regarding your case, you are ready to file a claim for compensation through Amazon’s insurance company.

How Do I Report Work-Related Injuries to Amazon?

Reporting work-related injuries and filing a workers’ compensation claim is not a litigious act against your employer. Rather, it represents a legal right and benefit offered to all employees. In principle, it works like filing a claim with any other type of insurance. When filing your claim, it is important to include as much detail as possible, such as the time, date, and location of the occurrence and everything that happened before, during, and after the accident. It should also include:

• All specific injuries sustained
• How the incident occurred
• What impact the injury or illness has had on your life
• All information that may subsequently be requested by the insurance

It is important to maintain copies of all documentation throughout your case, such as the official accident report, any medical records associated with the accident, and all correspondence with both the insurance and your employer. Any gaps in information or missing documents could unnecessarily cause a delay in your claim or could hinder you from collecting full and complete compensation.

What Are the Most Common Workplace Injuries at Amazon?

Amazon employees are regularly subjected to rigorous quotas and high-pressure work environments with demanding expectations to sustain an often unreasonable output for long periods of time. The fast-paced business practices and high-volume demand require an efficiency that is difficult to sustain safely. As a result, Amazon workers are prone to injury-inducing accidents to a far greater extent than any other warehouse worker in the industry.

In this type of working environment, Amazon workers are particularly at risk for:

• Slip and fall accidents. Workers can slip on uneven or wet floors, trip over cluttered areas and other obstructions, and fall off ladders, step stools, platforms, or shelving units. Falls can lead to serious injuries, such as fractures, sprains, bruises, and head injuries. Slip and fall accidents can result from normal working conditions or can be the result of unsafe environments or negligence.
• Forklift accidents. Forklifts are one of the most common machine equipment used in fulfillment centers and carry the potential for harm if not operated properly. Improper training or handling of this equipment while maneuvering loads can easily lead to stab injuries, crush injuries, broken bones, or fatalities.
• Falling object accidents. Fulfillment centers are full of shelves storing boxes, merchandise, pallets, crates, and other heavy objects. When an object flies through the air or falls on top of a worker, striking or crushing them, it can lead to serious injury, such as concussions, traumatic brain injury, fractures, contusions, or lacerations.
• Hazardous material accidents. Warehouses can contain harmful chemicals or other substances on the property that, if not properly stored or used carefully, could lead to illness or physical injury if harmfully exposed. Injuries include burns, eye damage, poisoning, and breathing complications.

In addition to one-off accidents, Amazon workers are also prone to injuries that manifest over time, such as repetitive motion injuries. This type of injury involves overexertion or prolonged strain on muscles, joints, and other parts of the body over time. Related injuries include herniated discs, muscle strains, tendonitis, and carpal tunnel resulting from repeated bending, lifting, and carrying heavy objects for extended periods of time.

If you have suffered any kind of injury while at work, whether by an immediate accident or over years of working at Amazon, it is vital that you both seek immediate medical attention and that you speak with an experienced accident attorney for a case evaluation and consultation. Workplace injuries can be expensive to treat and can keep you from being able to work for extended periods of time. Your attorney can help you file for complete compensation for recovery.

What Is Covered by a Workers’ Compensation Claim?

Workers’ compensation is intended to cover any expenses or loss associated with a work-related injury or illness. Upon filing a claim, the insurance company will review all information and documentation, request further information as needed, and then provide a claim settlement. This compensation award will generally cover the following damages:

• Medical bills. Workers’ compensation will cover all medical expenses related to the work-related injury, including hospitalization, medication and prescriptions, intravenous care, and any follow-up appointments necessary to treat the injury or illness.
• Lost income. Employees can only apply for workers’ compensation once an injury or illness has prevented them from working for at least three days. Most injuries can keep employees out of work for much longer, with more serious injuries taking months or even years to recover. Workers’ compensation will cover a portion of the income lost as a result of being out of work. In the case of long-term or permanent injury, claims can provide settlement to cover the loss of future earning capacity for those unable to return to work to the same ability.
• Long-term care. Many injuries require further ongoing care for recovery, such as physical or occupational therapy, medication, surgery, or assistive equipment, such as crutches or a wheelchair. Workers’ compensation claims should cover these expenses as well.

What Happens in the Case of Wrongful Death?

Tragically, some workplace accidents can lead to the wrongful death of an employee. When an injury, illness, or accident leads to a death that could have been otherwise avoided, it is known as a wrongful death. In these cases, the employee’s surviving family members can file a workers’ compensation claim on their behalf to recover outstanding medical expenses related to the accident, lost income and earning capacity from a breadwinner, and funeral costs. Funeral costs can include any fees or expenses associated with burying, cremating, or otherwise interning your loved one, funeral costs, and any other associated fees.

Can I Sue Amazon for an Injury at Work?

California workers’ compensation laws protect employees from having to pursue legal action to recover damages in the event of an injury. Conversely, they also protect employers from liability in the event of an accident. This means that you cannot sue Amazon for a workplace injury, as California requires filing a workers’ compensation claim as the exclusive legal remedy for workplace injuries.

If Amazon has in any way committed a legal violation, however, it could present an exception. You may instead be legally able to pursue a personal injury claim against the company if they caused the injury intentionally, hurt you outside of an employment context, or concealed the injury or the company’s role in the accident. Lastly, if your employer was not carrying current and valid workers’ compensation insurance at the time of the accident, you could pursue recovery for damages through a personal injury claim.

If you are an Amazon delivery driver or fulfillment center worker who has experienced an accident at work, speak with a member of our team as soon as possible. The attorneys at Pratt Law Corporation are ready to utilize their legal experience to handle your workers’ compensation or personal injury claim. Contact our office to learn more or to schedule a free review of your case.