According to www.emedicinehealth.com, “a chemical burn is irritation and destruction of human tissue caused by exposure to a chemical, usually by direct contact with the chemical or its fumes.”
There are several causes of a chemical burn, notably, accidents or intentional assault.
On the one hand, chemical burn accidents can occur in the following environments:
- Home: misuse of caustic soda cleaning products as well as the use of chemical-based hair and skin lightening products.
- School: accidents in a chemistry lab can cause severe burns.
- Industry: the mining industry and the manufacture of medicines and chemicals are the three most hazardous industries with the highest risk of chemical burn accidents.
On the other hand, chemical burn assaults can occur anywhere and are typically caused when a person has hazardous chemicals thrown at them. A particular circumstance within this category is chemical warfare and the burns military personnel and civilians experience living and working in a war-torn zone. It should be noted that these injuries are not covered in the scope of this article. However, they are worth mentioning as they still occur across the globe today.
Personal injury claims and chemical burns
Therefore, the question that begs is whether you can submit a personal injury claim through a chemical burn lawyer.
The simple answer to this question is that it depends on whether negligence on the part of the other party can be proven or not. However, in practice, this answer needs substantial thought to determine what the answer is. By way of explanation, let’s look at a simple case study
Case study: Home accident
Let’s assume for this article that you have used a caustic agent to clean your stove and oven and have been burnt while cleaning your oven. In order to determine whether the product’s manufacturer is at fault, the following questions need to be asked and answered:
Does the product have the necessary instructions and warnings on the can? For example, does the product’s packaging have a warning that this product is acid and using it can result in burns? And, are you instructed to wear protective hand, eye and breathing apparatus when using the product?
A case of negligence on the part of the manufacturer can be considered under the following circumstances:
- The warnings mentioned above do not appear on the product’s packaging.
- You were wearing the correct protective gear and were still burnt by the product.
On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that a case of negligence will be proved if the product burned you because you did not follow the instructions listed on the packaging.
Final words
This case study provides the simplest of scenarios. Each injury, especially workplace and school laboratory injuries, must be considered based on its merit and circumstances. Therefore, should you have been involved in a chemical burn incident, the best thing to do is to consult a professional chemical burn attorney. They will guide you through the process to determine whether you have a valid claim or not.
