Can You Sue for Chemical Burns?

You can sue for chemical burns if another party’s negligence caused grave injury or loss, necessitating damages.

Chemical burns are potentially lethal injuries caused in places like home, school, and a variety of work industries. About 16% of all related burns are chemical in nature, including hot scalding liquids, thermal burns, and electrical burns.

According to studies in the National Library of Medicine, the most frequent patients suffering chemical burns are ages 20 to 49 years. Most chemical burn injuries happened at home, but the workplace was the next commonplace for workers suffering from chemical burns.

If you want to sue for chemical burn injury, it’s best to hire a lawyer who can represent you. Since most chemical burn cases fall under personal injury law, you’ll need the best representation to prove subjective concepts like negligence and liability in your case.

What is a Chemical Burn?

Chemical burns are injuries caused by contact with harsh substances such as bleach, battery acids, disinfectants, etc. The toxic substance comes into contact with the skin and eats away at layers of skin and tissue.

Depending on the form of contact, chemical burns can happen anywhere on the body. Chemical burn injuries are severe no matter how small the exposure due to how toxic substances can penetrate through skin. It’s also hard to remove a chemical burn as it applies throughout your body.

They can occur anywhere, but people working with chemicals, such as mechanics, chemists, scientists, technicians, cosmetologists, etc., are especially at high-risk.

If you are at-risk of being harmed by a chemical injury, learn how to handle and treat chemical injuries. Especially, if there are kids who accidentally consume or come in contact with household toxic substances.

What Do Chemical Burns Look Like – Common Symptoms

A chemical burn injury may appear red or swollen and may exhibit pain throughout your skin. Depending on the type and nature of chemical burn injury, the skin may often have blisters or look discolored.

Be especially careful inhaling chemicals in its gaseous form, as it can cause significant damage to one’s lungs and respiratory system. The damage from an inhalation injury may not be as apparent as a typical chemical burn.

Some key symptoms to look out for when suffering a chemical burn are:

• Red swelling or irritation
• You feel discomfort and pain in the burn area
• White or blackened discoloration
• Blisters or bubbles and liquid in the area of injury can be infectious
• Tissue damage affects the deeper layers of skin and possibly destroys tissues

These are the common symptoms depending on your level of burn injury, and can worsen from a first-degree, all the way to a third-degree burn.

Degrees of Chemical Burn Injury

Humans have three layers of skin—the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. First-degree burns are usually minor and harm the outer layer of the skin—the epidermis causing redness and some pain with no permanent damage.

Second-degree chemical burns are deeper as they affect the dermis layer of the skin and can leave permanent scarring.

Third-degree burns affect as deep as the hypodermis, causing white and blackened discoloration. This form of burn injury may be fatal if untreated and can cause organ malfunction or loss of sensation. Other symptoms may be chest pain, cough, nausea, and shortness of breath.

Any degree of chemical burn injury deserves immediate medical attention from your doctor due to how the chemical may react to other parts of your body. A doctor has to properly diagnose your wounds to see if further damage occurred separate from your burn.

What to Do After Sustaining a Chemical Burn

Chemical burns are very dangerous and should be addressed immediately, even if it’s a minor burn to prevent infection. Some steps you can take to mitigate infection before medical staff arrive are:

1. Immediately rinsing the affected area with running cool water for about 20 minutes.
2. Removing contaminants while cleansing the wound. Refrain from wiping the area as that may spread more chemicals.
3. Identifying the chemical that caused the burn so your doctor knows during your next visit.
4. Get a clean gauze or bandage and gently wrap it around the wound to avoid infection.
5. You can apply antibiotics such as Neosporin for minor injuries, but you should ask your doctor for further instructions. Don’t apply antibiotics for large or severe injuries; seek medical help or call 911.
6. Seek proper medical treatment at urgent care, or a health care provider as soon as possible.

Chemical burns may be life-threatening if left untreated, and if this was caused by negligence of another party, you have the right to sue in a personal injury lawsuit. Contact a personal injury attorney and they can guide you through the process.

Common Causes of Chemical Burns

Any form of chemical burn injury can occur as long as harmful substances are mishandled and ill-contained. Examples of such may include:

• Accidental spills or splashes
• Malfunctioning equipment
• Unguarded storage tanks
• Leaking or spraying pipes
• Not wearing proper gear when handling toxic substances
• Little supervision for children handling toxic substances

A large amount of chemical burns are caused by a combination of negligence and unsafe working conditions.

If you were using a malfunctioning product that caused chemical injury, you may also have grounds for a product liability lawsuit.

Products that have potentially dangerous chemicals should have labels and appropriate warnings for consumers to see. Manufacturing companies deserve to be liable if harsh chemical burns resulted from their negligence.

Who is At-Risk for Sustaining Chemical Burns?

Anyone exposed to toxic material is at-risk for sustaining chemical burns, but some parties are more predisposed than others.

Workers who regularly handle dangerous substances like factory workers may sustain chemical burns due to their work environment. Their employer may be liable for improperly maintaining their workplace, especially if workers were not given personal protective equipment (PPE).

Workers like mechanics, construction, laboratory technicians, firefighters, and others deal with toxic substances on a regular basis.

People residing in improperly-maintained property may be susceptible to chemical burns, especially when pool chlorinators are neglected, causing chlorine rash.

How to Treat Chemical Burns

Treating chemical-related burns should be done so by a doctor. However, a few key tips to keep in mind for the type of chemical injury:

• Never apply hot water or heat on a chemical burn as that could worsen the injury.
• Chemicals with powder substance may need to be brushed off gently when rinsing under cool water.
• Find a doctor immediately if your injury affects the face, eyes, or any major body parts.
• Immediately get medical care if the injury covers a large area and if you are experiencing abnormal pain or difficulty breathing.

Overall, getting a doctor is important and you shouldn’t wait for the burn to heal as there may be underlying consequences that can happen after.

How Long Do Chemical Burns Last?

Depending on the type of chemical, burns may last a few days to a few weeks or even months. First-degree minor injuries are recorded to be healed within a week. Second-degree burns may take more than two to three weeks. Third-degree burns may take months to heal, depending on the severity of the damage.

Proving Negligence for a Chemical Burn

If you feel a negligent party has caused your chemical burn injury, you’ll need to prove their negligence by:

• Proving a duty of care—the liable party is legally responsible to provide a safe environment.
• Breach of duty—the negligent party failed to take action to prevent the chemical burn or had placed a risk on you.
• Chemical Injury—the doctor diagnosed your burns from the incident.
• Causation—You must prove the other party was negligent which caused your injury.

Some key evidence to support your case if you’re suing for chemical burns are:

• Documenting the incident with medical reports, pictures, videos, etc.
• You may also provide key witnesses and request incident reports from insurance or the police.
• Consult with an expert to testify to your claim and have them analyze your injury to verify its long-term effects.

Most importantly, you should call a personal injury attorney to navigate the claims process and seek compensation for your losses.

Can You Qualify for a Lawsuit After a Chemical Burn?

You have the right to file a lawsuit after a chemical burn if you prove negligence by the other party. However, you may not be able to sue your employer for a work-related injury for pain and suffering, but will have to file a workers’ comp claim.

You may sue if the chemical injury happened on someone else’s property or if the product you used caused you a burn injury. You may sue the company due to a defective product, warning defect, or manufacturing cause. Contact a personal injury attorney to see if your case qualifies.

Types of Damages in a Chemical Burn Lawsuit

Generally, types of damages in a chemical burn lawsuit may be categorized into: compensatory damages and punitive ones.

Compensatory Damages

Compensatory damages seek to make up for losses, actual or intangible, after an accident due to another party’s negligence.

This includes economic damages that record actual numerical losses, and non-economic damages that are conceptual in nature.

The types of compensatory damages you may seek if you’re suing for chemical burns are:

• Medical costs
• Prescriptions or medical equipment costs
• Lost wages
• Property damages
• Out-of-pocket expenses (over-the-counter medications or doctor visits, etc.)
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium

In tort law, compensatory damages are awarded by the court equal to the loss the victim suffered. If the party’s rights were violated without injuries or damages, the court may grant nominal damages— small symbolic payments granted.

Punitive Damages

Also called exemplary damages, these are monetary damages levied on the negligent party to prevent further incidents from happening again.

Punitive damages are relevant when the defendant intentionally or knowingly engages in misconduct. This includes cases of gross negligence and instances of intentional malice.

Ensure You’re Legally Protected With a Personal Injury Attorney

LegalASAP can connect you with a verified personal injury lawyer through our attorney network. We’re connected with 500+ law firms across the United States and may have lawyers locally near you.

The statutes of limitations vary per state, therefore, you should seek a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. If you fail to start your claim within your state’s statutes, your claim may be jeopardized before it even begins.

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