When you think of someone receiving severe or multiple burns, you probably think of a house fire, campfire or something similar. However, a building or logs on fire are not the only sources of burns. Other causes exist that may actually be more likely to happen.
Knowing what these dangers are can help you determine if you have a personal injury case for your burn.
Motor vehicle accidents
Much attention goes to traumatic brain injuries, broken bones and soft-tissue damage following a car accident. However, another likely injury you may sustain is burns. They can happen as a result of the vehicle being on fire or exploding. If you are a pedestrian, it may be from coming into contact with hot vehicle parts, such as the exhaust pipe. If you are a biker, you may get the related injury of road rash from sliding across the street, especially when you have little or no protective gear on.
Restaurants
When you go to a restaurant, you may end up leaving with more than just a full stomach. You may also sustain burns from any of the following scenarios:
- A server spilling a hot liquid on you
- The food being too hot and burning your mouth and/or fingers
- Hot food in a takeout container leaking or spilling onto you
- Flames or hot food contacting you in the case of tabletop or table-side cooking
- Slipping/tripping and falling onto a hot surface or hot food
Work environment
The workplace can also be the source of burn incidents. From servers to cooks, restaurant workers have high rates of burn injuries. Burns in the construction industry are also common and very severe, especially special types such as from an arc flash or electricity. Even employees in seemingly safe industries can receive burns from fires and hot substances. These instances would qualify as workers’ compensation claims.