Suffered a Crush Injury at Work in Dallas-Fort Worth? Our Work Injury Lawyers Can Help

A crush injury can occur in a single, irreversible moment — a forklift pins a worker against a loading dock wall, a trench collapses, a press cycles without warning, or a collapsing load buries someone under hundreds of pounds. The force involved does not just break bones. It destroys muscle, severs nerves, ruptures vessels, and can trigger life-threatening systemic conditions that unfold over hours and days. For workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area whose employers have opted out of workers' compensation, the path to full and fair compensation is a personal injury lawsuit — not a workers' comp claim — and the outcome depends entirely on proving employer negligence.

Armstrong Law, PLLC handles exclusively non-subscriber workplace injury cases. Attorney Warren Armstrong has devoted his entire legal career to representing injured workers against employers who put production over safety. We investigate the specific failures that caused your crush injury, build a comprehensive record of liability and damages, and fight aggressively to secure the full compensation you need to rebuild your life.

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What Is a Crush Injury and Why Is It So Dangerous?

A crush injury is defined by its mechanism, not just its result. It occurs when a part of the body is subjected to a high degree of compressive force, typically between two heavy objects or beneath a falling mass. This sustained compression causes direct structural damage at the point of impact and triggers a cascade of secondary complications that can be just as life-threatening as the initial trauma.

The crushing force starves muscle tissue of oxygen, causing cells to die and release toxins. When the compression is relieved and circulation returns, those toxins flood the bloodstream in a process called reperfusion. This can trigger crush syndrome — a systemic medical emergency characterized by acute kidney failure, dangerous electrolyte imbalances, cardiac arrhythmias, and potentially fatal metabolic disturbances. Workers who survive the initial accident may face days of intensive care treatment simply to stabilize their organ systems.

Compartment syndrome is another critical complication. Swelling inside the rigid compartments of muscle groups builds pressure that cuts off blood flow to the tissue, creating a surgical emergency. A fasciotomy — cutting open the skin and fascia to relieve the pressure — must often be performed immediately to save the limb. Delays of even a few hours can result in permanent muscle death, paralysis, or amputation.

Understanding the systemic scope of crush injuries is essential for accurately valuing a non-subscriber claim. The medical journey does not end at discharge from the hospital. It often extends across years of surgeries, rehabilitation, and adaptive care that must all be accounted for in your damages.

Common Causes of Workplace Crush Injuries in Dallas-Fort Worth

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex encompasses one of the largest concentrations of warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing plants, construction sites, and industrial facilities in the United States, spanning Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Garland, Plano, and Arlington. Workers at these sites face crush hazards every day when employers fail to maintain safe equipment, enforce safety protocols, or provide adequate training. Our crush injury attorneys represent workers injured in incidents involving:

Forklift and Vehicle Pinning Accidents

Forklifts and other powered industrial vehicles are among the most common sources of crush injuries in Dallas-Fort Worth warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities. Workers are pinned between forklifts and fixed structures like walls, loading docks, and racking systems. Tip-over incidents trap operators beneath the overhead guard. Pedestrian workers in travel paths are struck and pinned without warning. Employers who fail to manage pedestrian traffic, train operators adequately, maintain equipment, or enforce speed and travel path rules in their facilities bear full liability for these accidents. We have extensive experience with forklift injury cases throughout the DFW area.

Industrial Press and Heavy Machinery Accidents

Manufacturing presses, hydraulic rams, stamping machines, and similar equipment are engineered to exert enormous compressive force. When machine guarding fails, safety interlocks are bypassed, lockout/tagout procedures are not followed, or workers are inadequately trained, limbs and digits are caught in the cycle of the machine with devastating results. Machine guarding failures remain among the most frequently cited OSHA violations in Texas manufacturing and are directly responsible for some of the most severe crush injuries our attorneys handle.

Trench Collapses and Structural Failures

Trench collapses are among the most lethal workplace events on construction sites across the DFW area. Soil weighs approximately 100 pounds per cubic foot, and even a small collapse can bury a worker under thousands of pounds of earth in seconds. OSHA requires specific protective systems — sloping, shoring, or trench boxes — for excavations deeper than five feet, and violations of these requirements are common. Structural collapses involving unsupported scaffolding, improperly shored walls, or unstable building components produce similarly catastrophic crushing force. We handle construction accident cases involving trench and structural failures throughout North Texas.

Falling Objects and Dropped Loads

Tools, construction materials, stacked products, crane loads, and industrial components dropped from scaffolding, elevated shelving, cranes, or upper floors strike workers below with force equivalent to their weight multiplied by the distance fallen. The impact crushes whatever part of the body absorbs the blow, frequently causing skull fractures, spinal injuries, and chest and abdominal crush trauma. Employers who fail to implement overhead hazard controls, require hard hat use, or secure loads adequately are directly responsible for these preventable incidents.

Conveyor and Roller Entrapments

Conveyor belt systems and roller assemblies used throughout Dallas-Fort Worth warehouses, food processing plants, and manufacturing facilities create powerful nip points where clothing, limbs, and body parts can become entrapped and pulled into the mechanism. Once contact occurs, the machine does not stop — it continues pulling, crushing, and degloving the affected tissue until an emergency stop is triggered. Employers who remove guards, fail to maintain emergency stop systems, or do not train workers on entrapment hazards create the conditions for these catastrophic injuries.

Rollover Accidents Involving Heavy Vehicles

Tractors, dump trucks, compactors, and other heavy vehicles operating on construction sites, agricultural operations, and industrial yards can tip or roll, trapping the operator beneath the vehicle or cab structure. These incidents produce catastrophic compressive injuries to the torso, pelvis, and lower extremities. When the accident results from employer-provided equipment that was improperly maintained, modified, or missing required rollover protective structures, the non-subscriber employer bears full liability for the resulting damages.

Severe and Lasting Consequences of Workplace Crush Injuries

The initial emergency is only the beginning of the medical journey for most crush injury victims. Our clients have faced injuries and complications including:

• Severe, comminuted fractures requiring complex surgical reconstruction with plates, rods, screws, and bone grafting over multiple procedures
• Crush syndrome causing acute kidney failure, dangerous hyperkalemia, and potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias requiring intensive care unit intervention
• Compartment syndrome requiring emergency fasciotomy surgery, sometimes resulting in significant disfigurement and muscle loss even when performed promptly
• Nerve damage ranging from temporary numbness and weakness to complete, permanent loss of sensation and motor function in the affected limb
• Major blood vessel damage requiring vascular surgery to restore circulation, with risk of limb loss if repair is delayed
• Massive muscle death (myonecrosis) requiring surgical removal of necrotic tissue, leading to significant loss of limb volume, strength, and function
• Traumatic amputation or required surgical amputation when limb salvage is not possible
• Degloving injuries in which the skin and soft tissue are stripped from the underlying bone and muscle
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis when the crush force involves the spine or pelvis
• Traumatic brain injury when the crush event involves the head or causes the victim to strike a surface during the incident
• Chronic pain conditions including complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), which frequently develops following severe nerve and tissue damage
• Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and profound psychological trauma requiring long-term mental health treatment
• Permanent disability preventing a return to the same work or any comparable employment

Because these consequences extend across a lifetime, accurately calculating the full value of a crush injury claim requires expertise in long-term medical cost projection, vocational rehabilitation assessment, and non-economic damages valuation. Armstrong Law works with qualified medical experts, life care planners, and vocational specialists to ensure every future cost is fully captured in your claim.

Steps to Take Immediately After a Workplace Crush Injury

What you do in the hours and days following a crush injury can significantly affect both your medical outcome and your ability to recover full compensation. Your health is always the first priority, but protecting your legal rights must happen simultaneously.

• Call for emergency medical services immediately, even if the injury appears to involve only one area of the body. Crush syndrome and compartment syndrome can develop hours after the initial incident. Prompt medical documentation directly linking your condition to the workplace accident is the cornerstone of your legal claim.
• Report the accident to your supervisor in writing as soon as you are physically able, and keep a copy of the incident report in your personal records.
• Document the scene and your injuries if you are able. Photograph the location of the accident, the equipment involved, any hazardous conditions that contributed, and your visible injuries. Continue documenting your injuries and recovery throughout treatment.
• Collect the names and contact information of any coworkers or bystanders who witnessed the accident or who have knowledge of the safety conditions at the site.
• Preserve physical evidence. Do not clean, discard, or alter any clothing or protective equipment worn during the accident. If equipment failure caused the injury, ensure the machine or vehicle is taken out of service before it can be repaired or replaced.
• Do not give recorded statements to your employer's insurer and do not sign any documents related to the incident before speaking with a lawyer. Insurance adjusters represent the employer's interests, not yours.
• Contact an experienced Texas crush injury lawyer as soon as you are able. The sooner we can begin preserving evidence and investigating the scene, the stronger your case will be.

Who Is Liable for Your Crush Injury?

Crush injury cases frequently involve more than one responsible party. Identifying every liable defendant is critical to maximizing your total recovery, and it is one of the most important tasks in building your case.

Your Non-Subscriber Employer

If your employer has opted out of the Texas workers' compensation system, they are a non-subscriber. Non-subscriber employers cannot invoke defenses like assumption of risk or co-worker fault that would otherwise shield them from full liability. You need only prove that the employer's negligence contributed to your injury to hold them accountable for the complete value of your damages.

Third-Party Contractors and Subcontractors

Many DFW industrial and construction sites involve multiple employers working simultaneously. If a contractor or subcontractor's negligence — through unsafe equipment operation, improper material handling, or failure to maintain a safe work zone — contributed to your crush injury, they may be independently liable. Third-party liability claims can provide additional compensation beyond what is recovered from the primary employer.

Equipment Manufacturers

When a design defect, manufacturing defect, or failure to warn about a known hazard in a piece of equipment contributed to your crush injury, the manufacturer may be liable under Texas product liability law. These claims run parallel to the non-subscriber employer case and can significantly increase total recovery, particularly when the equipment involved lacked adequate safety guards or interlocks.

Property Owners

If the crush injury occurred at a facility your employer does not own, the property owner may bear independent liability for dangerous premises conditions they knew about and failed to address, including inadequate structural support, unsafe storage configurations, or deficient traffic management in areas where heavy equipment operates.

Maintenance and Repair Companies

Companies contracted to service, inspect, or repair industrial equipment or structural systems may be liable when negligent maintenance contributed to the equipment failure or structural collapse that caused your injury.

Understanding Non-Subscriber Claims vs. Workers' Compensation

The legal path available to you after a workplace crush injury depends entirely on whether your employer participates in the Texas workers' compensation system.

Workers' Compensation Cases

Employers who carry workers' compensation provide no-fault medical benefits and partial wage replacement, but they cannot be sued for additional damages. Workers' comp does not compensate for pain and suffering, permanent disability beyond scheduled benefit amounts, mental anguish, or disfigurement. Recovery is strictly capped at what the system allows, regardless of the severity of your injury.

Non-Subscriber Cases

Texas is the only state that allows private employers to opt out of workers' compensation entirely. When your employer is a non-subscriber, you have the right to pursue a full personal injury lawsuit. In non-subscriber cases, you must prove employer negligence, but you can recover the complete value of your damages including pain and suffering, permanent disability, mental anguish, disfigurement, and punitive damages when the employer's conduct was grossly negligent. Texas law also strips non-subscriber employers of their most powerful defenses, including the ability to blame a coworker or argue that you assumed the risk of your injury.

Armstrong Law, PLLC handles only non-subscriber workplace injury claims. Our practice is entirely focused on fighting for injured workers whose employers opted out of workers' compensation. Understanding how non-subscriber compensation works is the foundation of every crush injury case we build.

OSHA Safety Violations That Lead to Crush Injuries

The vast majority of workplace crush injuries are preventable. OSHA establishes detailed requirements for machine guarding, powered industrial vehicle operation, excavation safety, and material handling across Texas industries. When employers ignore these rules, workers pay the price. Our attorneys regularly identify the following OSHA violations in crush injury cases:

• Failure to install or maintain required machine guards on point-of-operation hazards and nip points on conveyor and press equipment
• Failure to implement and enforce lockout/tagout energy control procedures before equipment maintenance or jam clearing
• Lack of required pedestrian traffic separation in areas where powered industrial vehicles operate
• Failure to provide required protective systems — sloping, shoring, or trench boxes — for excavations deeper than five feet
• Inadequate training for forklift and powered industrial vehicle operators
• Failure to inspect and maintain forklifts, cranes, and other heavy equipment that develop mechanical faults leading to tip-overs or uncontrolled movement
• Absence of required overhead hazard protections, netting, or toe boards on elevated work platforms
• Failure to secure stacked materials, racking systems, and stored loads against collapse
• No written safety program or inadequate supervisor enforcement of established safety protocols
• Failure to address known hazards reported by workers or identified through prior inspections or near-miss incidents

OSHA violations create powerful evidence of employer negligence in non-subscriber crush injury claims. When prior citations exist for the same hazard that caused your injury, they demonstrate that the employer had direct knowledge of the danger and chose not to correct it — a strong basis for punitive damages.

How Armstrong Law Investigates Crush Injury Cases

Building a winning non-subscriber crush injury case requires a thorough, rapid investigation conducted before the employer can alter or destroy evidence. Armstrong Law takes a comprehensive approach to every case.

Immediate Evidence Preservation

We act quickly after retention to document the accident scene, photograph the equipment and site conditions, and issue spoliation letters requiring the employer to preserve all relevant documents, equipment, maintenance logs, and safety records before anything can be altered or repaired.

Records Collection

We gather accident reports, OSHA inspection history, equipment maintenance logs, operator training records, safety protocols, prior incident reports, and any internal communications about known hazards to build a comprehensive picture of employer negligence leading up to your injury.

Expert Consultation

We work with accident reconstruction specialists, industrial safety engineers, OSHA compliance experts, orthopedic and vascular surgeons, life care planners, and vocational rehabilitation professionals to document liability and quantify the full lifetime cost of your injuries.

Witness Investigation

We interview coworkers, supervisors, safety officers, equipment operators, and any other witnesses with knowledge of the accident or the employer's safety culture to build a detailed and credible evidentiary record.

OSHA History and Prior Incident Research

We research the employer's complete OSHA citation history and any prior workplace incidents involving similar equipment or hazards. Prior citations for the same type of violation that caused your injury are among the most powerful evidence of deliberate employer negligence available in a non-subscriber case.

Medical Documentation and Life Care Planning

We coordinate with your treating physicians and, where appropriate, independently retained medical experts to document every aspect of your current and anticipated future medical needs. Crush injuries frequently require care that extends across decades, and every projected cost must be accurately quantified and included in your damages claim.

Compensation Available for Crush Injury Victims in Texas

Because Armstrong Law handles exclusively non-subscriber cases, our clients are not subject to the benefit caps and restricted recovery that apply to workers' compensation claims. A successful crush injury lawsuit can recover the full value of your damages.

Economic Damages

• Medical expenses: All past and future costs including emergency treatment, hospitalization, crush syndrome and compartment syndrome interventions, multiple reconstructive surgeries, physical and occupational therapy, prosthetics, durable medical equipment, home health care, and all projected long-term medical needs
• Lost wages: Full compensation for all income, overtime, bonuses, and employment benefits lost from the date of your injury through your recovery period
• Diminished earning capacity: If your crush injuries prevent you from returning to your previous occupation or reduce your ability to earn comparable income over your remaining working years, you can recover the full projected difference over your working lifetime
• Vocational rehabilitation: Costs for retraining, career counseling, and job placement services if you cannot return to the same trade or industry
• Household and personal care services: Compensation for the value of household tasks, childcare contributions, and personal care activities you can no longer perform as a result of your injuries

Non-Economic Damages

• Pain and suffering: Compensation for the extreme physical pain of the crush event itself, your emergency treatment, your surgeries, and your ongoing recovery
• Mental anguish: Damages for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and the profound psychological impact of living with catastrophic injuries and permanent disability
• Permanent physical impairment: Damages for the lasting loss of mobility, strength, sensation, and physical function caused by your injuries
• Disfigurement: Compensation for permanent scarring, disfigurement, or limb loss resulting from the crush injury, fasciotomy procedures, or required amputations
• Loss of enjoyment of life: Compensation for your inability to participate in the hobbies, activities, and relationships that gave your life meaning before the injury

Punitive Damages

When an employer's conduct reflects gross negligence or conscious indifference to the safety of their workers, Texas law allows the recovery of punitive damages. Crush injury cases involving known unaddressed machine guarding failures, documented trench safety violations, or deliberate pressure to bypass safety procedures are strong candidates for punitive damage claims. These damages punish the employer and serve as a deterrent against future unsafe practices.

Why You Need an Experienced Dallas Crush Injury Lawyer

Non-subscriber crush injury cases are among the most complex and high-value matters in Texas workplace injury law. The injuries are catastrophic, the damages are substantial, and employers and their insurers fight these claims with every resource available to them.

Non-Subscriber Law Expertise

Our practice is built exclusively around non-subscriber workplace injury claims. We understand the legal standards, the burden of proof, and the litigation strategies that produce results for injured workers against some of the largest employers and insurance carriers in Texas. Navigating a non-subscriber crush injury claim while recovering from catastrophic injuries requires legal counsel that is deeply familiar with this specific area of Texas law.

Technical Investigation and Expert Resources

Crush injury cases demand expert knowledge of industrial equipment, OSHA safety standards, structural engineering, and medical science. We have built relationships with qualified experts across every discipline relevant to crush injury litigation, and we invest those resources in every case we handle.

Full Lifetime Damages Valuation

The most consequential mistake in crush injury cases is underestimating the lifetime cost of the injury. We work with life care planners and medical experts to project every future surgical procedure, therapy requirement, adaptive device, and personal care need across your entire lifetime. Your settlement or verdict must reflect that full figure — not just what you have spent so far.

Countering Employer and Insurance Tactics

Insurance companies assigned to defend non-subscriber crush injury claims are experienced, well-resourced, and aggressive. They will challenge the mechanism of injury, dispute the extent of your damages, and attempt to shift comparative fault to you. We anticipate every tactic and counter it with comprehensive preparation and a litigation posture that makes clear we are ready to try the case.

Trial-Ready Representation

Warren Armstrong is an experienced trial lawyer who prepares every crush injury case as if it will go before a jury. That commitment drives fair settlement outcomes during negotiations and ensures that clients have the strongest possible advocate in the courtroom when a fair resolution cannot be reached any other way.

Contact Our Dallas-Fort Worth Crush Injury Lawyers for a Free Consultation

If you or a loved one has suffered a crush injury while working for a non-subscriber employer in Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Irving, Garland, Arlington, or anywhere throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, do not wait to get the legal help you need.

Crush injury evidence can be altered or destroyed quickly, witnesses' accounts fade, and the statute of limitations continues to run from the date of your injury. The sooner you contact Armstrong Law, PLLC, the sooner we can begin preserving evidence, identifying liable parties, and building the strongest possible case on your behalf.

We work closely with every client to understand the full scope of what their injury has taken from them — physically, financially, and emotionally — so we can pursue compensation that covers every medical cost, every dollar of lost income, every measure of pain and suffering, and every other damage they are entitled to under Texas law. You pay nothing unless we win your case.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Armstrong Law, PLLC serves crush injury clients throughout Dallas County, Tarrant County, Collin County, Denton County, and surrounding North Texas communities. We are committed to securing justice and maximum compensation for injured workers and their families.

For a free consultation, please reach out to our Dallas office at (214) 932-1288 for immediate assistance.

You can also complete our online contact form for a prompt response. During your free consultation, we will:

• Review the full details of your crush accident and your injuries
• Confirm whether your employer is a non-subscriber to workers' compensation
• Explain your legal rights and all options available to you under Texas law
• Assess the potential full value of your crush injury claim, including long-term damages
• Answer every question you have about the legal process and what to expect
• Provide immediate guidance on protecting your rights and preserving critical evidence

Remember: You pay nothing unless we win your case. Contact us today to begin your path to recovery and justice.