Construction workers frequently use welding rods to join steel and other materials. However, most construction workers are unaware that employing a welding rod may result in significant physical impairments.
Several dangerous and even fatal diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, lung cancer, renal disease, and metal poisoning, can be brought on by the vapors from the materials being welded. Construction employees should therefore be aware of their legal right to compensation if they have injuries due to a welding rod.
How Can I Show That I Was Hurt?
Most welding rod injuries are compensable under a product liability or negligence premise. An individual hurt by a welding rod must demonstrate several factors to prevail in a lawsuit against a general contractor or a product maker. These components consist of the following:
- A manufacturer or contractor was legally obliged to take reasonable precautions to protect the victim from harm.
- The manufacturer’s/contractor’s performance was subpar.
- A contractor or manufacturer’s negligence brought on the victim’s injury.
- The victim did sustain significant harm.
Additionally, many welding rod cases need the knowledge of medical professionals who can attest to the kind and source of injuries incurred in welding rod incidents.
Welding Rods with Manufacturing Defects
Metal pieces called welding rods are heated to extremely high temperatures and used as a filler to melt other metals together. A welding rod emits dust and fumes that include several harmful compounds when heated. Humans who are exposed to these toxins may develop significant ailments over time.
People who have been hurt while using welding rods should seek medical attention and speak with a lawyer immediately to discuss their legal options for recovering damages.
Health Dangers
The health concerns associated with welding may vary based on the particular metals utilized, the length of exposure, and the intensity of that exposure.
Exposure to Manganese
Exposure to manganese is the primary cause of the health issues most frequently associated with welding rods. A typical component of steel and the majority of welding rods is manganese.
Manganism, also known as “welder’s illness,” manganese poisoning, and manganese-induced Parkinsonism can all occur when large levels of manganese are inhaled or absorbed via the skin. These neurological conditions impact the brain’s capacity to regulate movement by attacking the central nervous system.
Symptoms of Disorders Related to Manganese
- Tremors
- Moving and walking with difficulty
- A lack of coordination and balance
- Unsteady speech
- Dementia
- Depression
Disorders linked to manganese progress over time and often get progressively worse. These illnesses cannot be cured, but they can be managed with medicine and physical treatment.
Additional Health Risks
Welding rods frequently release compounds, including nickel, chromium, iron, cadmium, aluminum, and manganese. In addition to leukemia and malignancies of the stomach, brain, and pancreas, these compounds are known to cause skin ulcers, eye burns, asthma, and chronic bronchitis in people.
Legal Claims
The welder or the welder’s family may file legal claims for welding rod injuries if the welder has passed away. The “plaintiff,” the party who filed the lawsuit, may seek compensation based on several legal theories.
First, the welder’s employer may be liable for personal injury under state worker’s compensation regulations. In most personal injury cases, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the employer’s negligence brought on the injury.
In addition, a claimant may file a product liability lawsuit against the businesses that produced and sold the welding rod. If the plaintiff can demonstrate the following, these businesses will be held accountable:
- The welding rod had a flaw that made it unsafe to use in the given situation; and
- The welding rod’s fumes were the direct cause of the welder’s injury or injuries.
If a welding rod is produced and supplied without proper warnings, it may be faulty. An Illinois appellate court, for instance, upheld a $1 million damage judgment against multiple welding rod makers in 2005 for failing to post warnings in an area where customers were likely to see them.
Avoiding Welding Rod Accidents
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hasn’t established any regulations to control workplace exposure to welding rod fumes.
However, OSHA has put a cap on the amount of manganese that can be exposed to at work at five milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) during a 40-hour workday. Beyond these limitations, substantial negative health impacts are known to occur.
Although the dangers of manganese have been known since the beginning of the nineteenth century, employers and welding rod producers still expose their employees to extremely high quantities of manganese through welding rod emissions.
The injured party may file a welding rod lawsuit against the manufacturer and/or their employer to seek monetary compensation for their pain and suffering if adequate measures are not taken to prevent workplace exposure to manganese and manganese welding rod fumes.
Injury from Welding Rod Fumes
The OSHA is aware that exposure to welding rod vapors can have a range of harmful impacts on one’s health.
Acute exposure injuries include nose, throat, mouth, lungs, skin, and digestive system irritation. Exposure to welding rod fumes containing manganese and other metals can also cause eye injuries.
Workers who are exposed to mild steel welding fumes may experience respiratory problems such as coughing, wheezing, and tightness in the chest. However, exposure to other toxicants in the workplace, such as crystalline silica, may be the cause of similar deficits. Smokers appear to be more susceptible to welding rod gases’ respiratory impacts.
Metal fume fever, which resembles the flu, can be brought on by welding fume exposure. Fever, chills, headache, nausea, breathlessness, muscle soreness, and a metallic taste in the mouth are some of the symptoms.
Welders have a higher prevalence of infertility than the general population. Particularly recognized to result in impotence and a decreased sperm count are manganese fumes. The duration of exposure to welding rod fumes appears to be related to an increased incidence of anomalies in semen quality. Welders of stainless steel have the greatest rates of sperm anomalies.
Manganism
The most severe welding rod injury is a devastating and frequently irreversible neurological disorder known as manganism. Since the symptoms of manganism, or manganese toxicity, are eerily similar to those of Parkinson’s disease, the terms are frequently used interchangeably.
Since the late 1800s, manganese has been linked to negative neurological effects, according to scholarly research. Since then, the dangerous disorder known as manganism or Parkinsonism has affected thousands of welders, miners, and industrial workers.
Recent medical research supports the association between Parkinsonism development and exposure to manganese welding fumes. People with long-term exposure to welding materials often manifested Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms 20 years before the disease’s typical beginning age.
Which Damages Can Be Recovered?
Different compensation amounts have been given to construction employees who have suffered injuries from welding rods. These consist of the following:
- Compensation for the loss of earning potential brought on by the injury
- Expenses related to health care, such as payments for prescription drugs and hospital bills
- Paying for pain and suffering
Should I Seek Legal Advice?
A workplace injury lawyer with experience in product liability or construction law can be very beneficial regarding welding rod injuries.
A competent attorney can present a compelling argument showing the general contractor’s responsibility and fault for failing to foresee the construction worker’s injuries.
