Manufacturing and industrial jobs often involve the risk of serious injury from heavy machinery. From using lathes to presses to saws to grinders, your risk of injury is high in these jobs.
If you do get injured, we can help. Our lawyers can file your Workers’ Comp claims and fight in court to get your benefits approved. We can also seek settlements with your employer that can get you the benefits and lost wages you need faster than waiting on a judge.
For a free review of your injury case, call the Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.
Medical Benefits for Machinery Injuries in Pittsburgh
If you suffered a work-related injury, you may need intensive medical care and face a long road to recovery through physical therapy, rehabilitation, and more.
All care should be covered, as long as your claim is accepted. Emergency care is usually not even contested, but you need your claim granted to get the rest of your care covered.
In the first 90 days of treatment, you may have to use doctors your employer chooses, but you can still seek outside specialists and get second opinions on surgery.
Wage-Loss Benefits for Workers’ Comp
If you are hurt and cannot work, Workers’ Comp should pay you “indemnity benefits,” a.k.a. “wage-loss benefits.”
AWW
Your average weekly wage (AWW) from before the injury is used to calculate your wage-loss benefits. This is usually simple to calculate if you are a full-time employee and get paid a salary or an equal weekly amount, but we can help calculate this in more complex situations, too.
For example, we can factor in overtime as needed.
Totally Unable to Work
If you cannot work at all, your benefits equal 2/3 of your AWW.
Partial Work
If you can work with accommodation or reduced hours, and this results in lower pay, you instead get 2/3 of the difference in AWWs from before and after the accident.
Caps and Floors
This weekly amount is capped at the statewide AWW, which they set by law every year. There is also a floor at the lesser of these two values:
- 90% of your AWW
- 50% of the statewide AWW.
For example, if your AWW was $1,200 per week in 2025, 2/3 of that is $800 per week – less than the $1,347 statewide AWW cap. That would be your rate.
If you made $900 per week instead, 2/3 of that is less than half of the statewide AWW ($637.50), so you would receive $673.50 per week (as that is less than 90% of your AWW, which is $810).
If you made only $600 per week, you would receive 90% of that ($540 per week), as that is under $637.50.
Specific Loss Benefits for Amputations and Lost Function
Heavy machinery injuries can often cause severe crush injuries or amputations. You may also face severe injuries if your arm or other body part was stuck in a machine, leading to surgical amputation later.
This can pay additional benefits called “specific loss” benefits. These are only available for the following injuries:
- Amputation
- Total lost function
- Significant facial scarring
- Lost vision
- Lost hearing.
If you do face these injuries, you get 2/3 of your AWW (with a cap at the statewide AWW and floor at half that) for a number of weeks dictated by the specific injury. For example, a lost hand pays 335 weeks; a lost arm pays 410 weeks.
FAQs for Heavy Machinery Injury Claims in Pittsburgh
What Industries Are Covered Under Workers’ Comp?
Workers’ Comp covers nearly all employees throughout Pennsylvania. There are only a few industries that are excluded, but none of them are in these types of manufacturing or machining jobs, so your job should be covered.
What Injuries Are Covered?
Any accidental injuries you face should be covered. This can include acute, traumatic injuries like broken bones, crush injuries, and amputations, but it can also include injuries over time, like repetitive stress injuries.
What Constitutes a “Disability” for Workers’ Comp?
If your injury keeps you from working, it qualifies as a disability. There may be questions as to whether you are totally unable to work or whether your injury constitutes under 35% of your “whole body impairment” rating, which can affect how long your benefits last.
However, your rate for benefits depends on how much lost earning power your injury causes you, as discussed above, not your disability “status.”
When Should I File My Claim?
Give notice to your employer within 21 days of the injury (and definitely within the outside limit of 120 days). From there, they will likely deny your claim within 21 days.
At that point, you can file a Claim Petition with help from our Workers’ Compensation lawyers. That must be filed within 3 years of the injury.
Can I Sue for Injuries?
Workers’ Comp pays regardless of who was at fault for the injury, but if an outside company or person is at fault, you can still sue them. This can help you recover compensation for things like pain and suffering, which Workers’ Comp does not cover.
These cases are common against manufacturers of defective safety gear and machinery, such as non-functional emergency stop systems.
What is My Claim Worth?
Every injury case is different, and whether you can file a lawsuit or not will make a big difference in how much your case is worth. As mentioned, Workers’ Comp claims can pay wage-loss benefits, specific loss benefits, and medical benefits. However, lawsuits can cover other economic damages, the rest of your lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Our lawyers can calculate the specific damages or settlement value of your case and negotiate with the defense to bring up their settlement offers. Never accept a settlement before checking what your case should actually be worth.
Call Our Heavy Machinery and Industrial Accident Lawyers in Pittsburgh
Call Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Compensation lawyers at (267) 651-7945 right away for your free case review.
