If you’ve suffered a spinal injury caused by faulty safety equipment, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor, or even your employer in some cases. A spinal injury can be life-altering, leading to long-term medical care, loss of income, and significant emotional distress. When defective helmets, harnesses, or other protective gear fail to do their job, the consequences can be severe. Pursuing legal action not only helps you recover compensation for your damages but can also hold negligent companies accountable and help prevent similar injuries to others in the future.
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.
This naturally leads to an important question for those affected. Can you sue for a spinal injury caused by faulty safety equipment? The simple answer is yes.
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?
Instead, responsibility can lie anywhere along the product’s journey from concept to consumer. This journey is often called the “chain of distribution.”
A lawyer investigates every link in this chain to find all parties who may have contributed to the product’s failure. This ensures that you seek compensation from every entity involved in your injury. If you’re not sure how to start, you can read How to Find the Best Injury Lawyer Near You: A Complete Guide to help you choose the right legal representation for your case.
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.
In some cases, multiple parties along the chain share responsibility. For example, a designer could create a flawed blueprint, and the manufacturer could use substandard materials, creating two points of failure.
Identifying all responsible parties is a foundational step in building a strong legal case for your spinal cord injury.
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: If a third-party company was hired to inspect, maintain, or repair the safety equipment and did so improperly, they could be held 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.
This area of law is designed to protect consumers who may not know that a safety harness, a vehicle airbag, or a guardrail is defective until it is too late.
In many product liability cases, you do not need to prove that the company was intentionally careless or negligent.
Under a legal principle called “strict liability,” if you can prove that the product had a defect that made it unreasonably dangerous and caused your injury, the manufacturer or seller can be held responsible.
This allows injured people to seek justice without needing to know the specific internal workings or decisions of a large corporation. The focus is on the condition of the product, not the company’s behavior.
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 design defect means the product is dangerous because its core design is flawed. The problem is not with just one faulty item but with the entire product line. Every single product made according to that design poses a threat to the user. An example would be a safety helmet designed with a shell that is too thin to withstand a foreseeable impact or a car seatbelt that is designed to unlatch under common collision forces. - Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect occurs when a safe design is compromised by an error during the production process. Most products made on the assembly line are perfectly fine, but a mistake makes a specific item or batch dangerous. This could be a safety rope that was woven incorrectly, a metal carabiner with a hidden crack from the forging process, or a batch of airbags with faulty inflator mechanisms. - Marketing Defects (Failure to Warn)
A marketing defect happens when a product is sold without sufficient instructions, labels, or warnings about its proper use and potential dangers. The product itself might be designed and manufactured correctly, but it is dangerous because the user is not given the information needed to use it safely. For instance, a ladder that does not list its maximum weight capacity or a chemical product sold without clear warnings about its toxic properties could lead to serious accidents — including a Spinal Injury Caused by Faulty Safety Equipment?
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.
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. To learn more about these medical impacts, visit the NINDS page on spinal cord injury.
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, especially in cases involving a Spinal Injury Caused by Faulty Safety Equipment? Such claims often require proving how the defective equipment directly led to the injury and calculating long-term medical and care expenses.
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. You can learn more about how these damages work on the U.S. Department of Justice’s explanation of compensatory damages.
Punitive Damages
In some rare cases, punitive damages are awarded. These are not meant to compensate you for a loss. Instead, they are designed to punish the defendant for extremely reckless or intentional misconduct.
What Steps Should You Take After the Injury?
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 your case. The legal standard for this is known as a “preponderance of the evidence.” This means you must show that it is more likely than not that your version of events is true.
You are not required to prove your case beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard used in criminal cases. You will use evidence like the defective product, your medical records, witness statements, and reports from qualified professionals to build a convincing argument.
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.
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.
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 have to prove the existence of a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect that made the safety equipment unreasonably dangerous.
- The Defect Existed When It Left the Defendant’s Control: You must show that the product was already defective when it was sold and was not damaged or altered later in a way that caused it to fail.
- You Were Using the Product as Intended: You must demonstrate you were using the safety equipment in a manner that the manufacturer would reasonably expect. For example, you were wearing a seatbelt while driving, not using it as a tow rope.
- The Defective Product Caused Your Injury: This is a crucial link. You must prove that the product’s failure was a direct and primary cause of your spinal injury. You must show that if the equipment had worked properly, you would not have been hurt or your injuries would have been far less severe.
- You Suffered Damages: You must provide evidence of your losses. This includes medical bills, proof of lost income, and documentation of your 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 — especially in cases of a Spinal Injury Caused by Faulty Safety Equipment?
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.
Substantial Alteration
A defendant may also argue that their product was safe when it left their factory but was substantially altered or modified by you or someone else 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.
This defense is often difficult for them to prove, especially if 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, contact us or call Lorenz & Lorenz, PLLC, at (512) 477-7333.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. If your spinal injury resulted from faulty or defective safety equipment, you may have grounds to file a product liability claim against the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer responsible for the defective product.
Potentially liable parties can include the equipment manufacturer, designer, distributor, seller, or even an employer who knowingly provided defective equipment that led to the injury.
Compensation may cover medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and sometimes punitive damages if gross negligence is proven.
You typically need to show that the equipment had a defect in design, manufacturing, or warnings, and that this defect directly caused or worsened your spinal injury. Expert testimony and evidence like maintenance records can help.