Can you sue for a spinal injury caused by faulty safety equipment? In many cases, the answer is yes—if the equipment failed due to a defect or negligence, you may have a valid legal claim. Faulty safety gear can lead to serious spinal injuries in construction sites, industrial workplaces, or even everyday settings. Knowing your rights and acting quickly can make all the difference in your recovery and your case.
You trust safety equipment to protect you. A seatbelt in a car, a harness on a construction site, or a guardrail on a balcony all have one job: to prevent serious harm. When that equipment fails, the results can be catastrophic.
A spinal cord injury is one of the most severe outcomes of such a failure. It can alter your life in an instant, leaving you with immense physical, emotional, and financial burdens.
When a product designed for safety fails and causes you harm, you may have a legal claim against the companies responsible for putting that dangerous product into the world. This process involves identifying who is at fault and demonstrating how their defective product led to your life-altering injury.
Who is Responsible for a Faulty Equipment Injury?
Identifying who is at fault after an injury caused by failed safety gear is complicated. Liability does not always rest with a single person or company.
A spinal cord injury is one of the most severe outcomes of such a failure. It can alter your life in an instant, leaving you with immense physical, emotional, and financial burdens. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), spinal cord injuries often lead to permanent loss of strength, sensation, and body function below the site of the injury.
The fault could stem from poor design or an error on the factory floor. It might involve a company that failed to warn about the product’s limitations properly.
Several different entities could be held liable for your injury.
These can include:
- The Product Manufacturer: The company that physically built the safety equipment. They are responsible if an error during assembly or the use of weak materials caused the defect.
- The Product Designer: An engineering firm or individual designer may be liable if the product’s initial design was inherently unsafe, meaning every item made from that design is dangerous.
- The Wholesaler or Distributor: These middlemen move products from the factory to retail stores. As part of the chain of distribution, they can be held responsible.
- The Retailer: The store or online business that sold you or your employer the faulty equipment can also be a defendant in a product liability lawsuit.
- A maintenance company that improperly inspected, maintained, or repaired the safety equipment may be liable for its failure.
Product Liability Claims
A product liability claim is a legal action based on a defective product. These claims hold companies accountable for creating and selling products that cause harm to consumers.
Product liability law protects consumers who might not realize a safety harness, vehicle airbag, or guardrail is defective until after it causes harm. These preventable hazards share similarities with never events in medical malpractice—serious, avoidable errors that can cause life-altering injuries.
In many product liability cases, you do not need to prove that the company was intentionally careless or negligent.
Under the legal principle of “strict liability,” you can hold the manufacturer or seller responsible if you prove the product had a defect that made it unreasonably dangerous and caused your injury.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces safety standards for protective equipment used in U.S. workplaces, holding employers and manufacturers accountable when equipment defects lead to injury.
Three main types of defects can form the basis of a product liability claim.
Design Defects
A product has a design defect when its core design makes it inherently dangerous. The issue doesn’t come from one faulty unit—it affects the entire product line. Every item made using that design puts users at risk. For example, a manufacturer may design a safety helmet with a shell too thin to handle expected impacts or create a seatbelt that unbuckles during a common collision.
Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect happens when the production process introduces a flaw into an otherwise safe design. Most units might be safe, but a mistake in assembly or material quality can make a batch hazardous. For instance, a company might produce a safety rope with weak weaving, forge a carabiner with a hidden crack, or release a batch of airbags with defective inflators.
Marketing Defects (Failure to Warn)
A marketing defect occurs when the manufacturer fails to provide proper instructions, labels, or warnings. Even if the design and manufacturing are sound, the product becomes unsafe if users don’t know how to use it correctly. Examples include selling a ladder without listing its weight capacity or distributing a chemical without warning users about its toxic risks.
Compensation and Spinal Injury Cases
Spinal cord injuries are among the most devastating injuries a person can suffer. Unlike a broken bone that heals, a damaged spinal cord often leads to permanent consequences.
These injuries can cause chronic pain, loss of sensation, respiratory problems, and paralysis, such as paraplegia or quadriplegia. The damage fundamentally changes a person’s ability to work, participate in hobbies, and perform daily tasks.
Because these injuries are so severe and permanent, the legal claims associated with them are also unique. The compensation, known as damages, must be substantial enough to cover a lifetime of needs.
Calculating these and future costs requires careful analysis to ensure the injured person has the financial resources they will need for the rest of their life.
Economic Damages
These damages are direct, calculable financial losses resulting from the spinal injury. They are meant to restore the money you have lost and will lose because of the harm you suffered. This includes all past, present, and future medical expenses, such as surgeries, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and prescription medications.
Non-Economic Damages
These damages compensate you for the profound, non-financial ways the spinal injury has affected your life. While no amount of money can undo the harm, these damages acknowledge the immense personal suffering involved. This category includes compensation for physical pain, mental anguish, and emotional distress.
Punitive Damages
In rare cases, the court awards punitive damages to punish the defendant for extremely reckless or intentional misconduct—not to compensate you for your loss.
What Steps Should You Take After the Injury?
The moments, days, and weeks following a spinal injury are chaotic and difficult. However, the actions you take during this time can protect your health and preserve your right to seek compensation.
Preserve any evidence related to the accident. In a case involving faulty equipment, the product itself is the single most important piece of evidence. Insurance companies for the manufacturer may try to get ahold of the product to test it themselves, but you should not let that happen.
Documenting the scene and your injuries is also a key step in building a strong foundation for your case.
Proving Your Case in Court
To win a product liability lawsuit, you and your lawyer must prove that your version of events is more likely true than not. This is called the “preponderance of the evidence” standard. You’ll need solid proof—such as expert analysis, medical records, and physical evidence—to support your claim. For a closer look at how attorneys build strong legal cases, visit our page on what to expect when working with an injury lawyer.
You don’t need to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt—that standard applies to criminal trials. In a product liability case, you can build a strong argument using evidence such as the defective product itself, your medical records, witness statements, and expert reports.
For more information on how civil cases are proven in court, including the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, visit the United States Courts official website. This resource explains how evidence is evaluated in product liability and personal injury claims.
This often involves working with engineers who can analyze the product and determine why it failed. It also involves using your medical records and testimony from your doctors to clearly show how the accident resulted in a specific spinal cord injury.
Each element must be carefully established with clear and compelling evidence.
You must prove several core elements to hold a company liable for your injuries.
The Product Was Defective
You must prove that a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect made the safety equipment unreasonably dangerous. The product must have been defective when the defendant sold it, with no later damage or alteration causing the failure.
You Were Using the Product as Intended
You must show that you used the safety equipment in a way the manufacturer would reasonably expect. For example, wearing a seatbelt while driving—not misusing it as a tow rope.
The Defective Product Caused Your Injury
You must prove that the product’s failure directly caused your spinal injury. You also need to show that if the equipment had worked properly, it would have prevented the injury or reduced its severity.
You Suffered Damages
You must provide clear evidence of your losses. This includes medical bills, lost income, and documentation of pain and suffering.
Common Defenses in Faulty Equipment Cases
When you file a lawsuit against a company, you can expect them to mount a strong defense. Large corporations have legal teams dedicated to minimizing their financial responsibility. They will closely examine every aspect of your case to find weaknesses or to try and shift the blame away from their product. Anticipating these defense strategies is a key part of preparing a successful product liability claim for a spinal injury.
To better understand how companies defend against civil claims, including product defect lawsuits, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division provides insight into defense strategies and the civil litigation process.
An attorney familiar with these cases can prepare to counter the arguments the defense lawyers are likely to make. These defenses often focus on your actions or claim that something else was the true cause of your injury.
Product Misuse
One of the most common defenses is to claim that you were misusing the product when the accident occurred. The company will argue that their product is safe when used correctly, but you used it in an unforeseeable way.
For example, if you used a ladder rated for 200 pounds while carrying 300 pounds of material, the manufacturer would argue that this misuse—not a defect—caused the ladder to break. This type of argument is also seen in injury claims involving medical tools, such as forceps or vacuum extraction injuries during birth, where proper use is a central issue.
Substantial Alteration
The defendant may argue that the product left their factory in a safe condition, but you or someone else substantially altered or modified it before the accident.
They will claim this later alteration is what caused the equipment to fail. For instance, if you drilled holes in a safety helmet to attach a camera mount, the manufacturer might argue that those holes weakened the helmet’s structure and led to its failure.
Assumption of Risk
In some situations, a company might use the “assumption of risk” defense. They would need to prove that you knew about the specific defect or danger associated with the product but voluntarily chose to use it anyway.
Defendants often struggle to prove this defense, especially when the defect was hidden and not obvious to a reasonable person. You cannot assume a risk that you do not know exists.
Legal Solutions Are Just a Call Away
A spinal injury from faulty safety equipment is a life-changing event. Pursuing a legal claim can seem like another heavy burden during an already difficult time.
However, holding a negligent company accountable can provide the financial resources necessary for a lifetime of care and can bring a measure of justice for the harm you have endured.
The attorneys at Lorenz & Lorenz, PLLC, are dedicated to helping people who have been harmed. For a free consultation to discuss your situation, call (512) 477-7333 or contact us online today. We’re here to listen and help you take the next step.
Frequently Asked Question
Yes, if your spinal injury resulted from faulty safety equipment, you may be able to file a product liability or negligence lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor, or employer.
Responsibility may fall on the manufacturer, supplier, employer, or maintenance provider—depending on how the defect or failure occurred and who was in control of the equipment.
You may be eligible to recover medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, long-term care costs, and other related damages, depending on the severity of your injury.