We tend to think of burns as something that can occur due to a fire but may be avoided by staying away from an open flame and avoiding potential harm. However, many burn injuries do not involve contact with open flames. In fact, some people may not even realize that skin actually burns more quickly when applied to hot surfaces than it does in most open flames. So what really causes the average burn scenario? Having knowledge of the different types of common burn events will help injury victims to understand why these types of accidents happen and how they can be avoided.
Hot Water Scald Burns and Accidental Contact Injuries
Most burn injuries are accidental contact injuries, meaning someone brushes against something hot or gets exposed to a hot surface, solid or liquid that’s moving toward them. Perhaps the most common and easy example is a hot bath or shower. In this case, it’s important to control the water temperature because it’s so easy for someone to be burned while bathing. Unlike other kinds of accidental contact injuries, the injured victim doesn’t really have to make a mistake in terms of contacting the hot water — it strikes them from the shower head or from the open faucet. This is particularly a concern with respect to children, the elderly, the disabled and others who may need assistance in baths and may not be in control of the faucets themselves. The next thing to look at in burn injuries is why the water or other liquid was so hot. That’s where municipal management often comes into play. In urban environments, many people live in buildings with a dedicated superintendent or maintenance foreman. In such places, the water temperature and water pressure are handled collectively in a boiler room or other area of the building. It’s different than a situation where a single homeowner has a single water heater on-site. It’s more of a situation where there is a point person in charge of the common good. Then, there is a management company or other party managing the property. Together, the actual maintenance leaders and management parties share responsibility for protecting residents from hot scalding water that can be so dangerous when the tap is turned on. When it comes to burn cases, burn injury attorneys will look at the context of the burn injury in question. They will do quite a bit of fact-finding to determine how hot the water was and what the maximum temperature was at the time of the burn.
Call Our New York City Burn Injury Attorneys Right Away
If you or someone in your family was injured in a scalding or other burn-related incident, call the attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff. We understand how to move forward with personal injury cases in the state of New York and we’ll keep you informed every step of the way and get your voice heard in a court of law.
