“Contact with objects and equipment” is a federal injury category covering workers struck by falling, flying, swinging, or rolling objects, and those caught in or crushed by machinery. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks it as one of the most common and deadly event types across construction, manufacturing, and industrial work.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, contact incidents consistently rank among the top causes of both fatal and serious nonfatal workplace injuries nationwide — and Texas reports more workplace fatalities than nearly any other state. Houston’s reliance on construction, petrochemical plants, and warehousing puts thousands of workers near heavy machinery and unstable loads every shift.

The Four Types of Struck-By and Caught-Between Accidents

These accidents fall within what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Focus Four program identifies as among the deadliest hazards in construction. Understanding the mechanism matters, because it points to the equipment, party, or safety failure responsible.

Struck-By Falling or Flying Objects

Unsecured tools, materials dropped from heights, and debris ejected from saws or grinders strike workers below or nearby. Missing toe boards, debris nets, and overhead protection turn a routine task into a head or spinal injury.

Struck-By Swinging or Rolling Objects

Crane loads, swinging beams, and mechanically lifted materials can crush a worker pinned between the load and a fixed surface. Rolling hazards — vehicles, equipment, or stacked materials that shift — strike workers on foot, especially in blind spots and backing zones.

Caught-In or Caught-Between Machinery

Workers are pulled into, compressed by, or trapped in unguarded moving parts, conveyors, presses, and rotating equipment. These accidents cause some of the most catastrophic injuries we see, including amputations and fatal crush trauma.

Common Causes on Houston Job Sites

Most contact injuries trace back to a preventable failure: missing machine guards, poor maintenance, unsafe rigging, inadequate training, or skipped lockout/tagout procedures. When a company ignores known dangers or removes a safety device to speed up production, the resulting injury is foreseeable — and the responsible parties can be held accountable.

Federal law requires employers to guard hazardous machinery. Under the OSHA machine guarding standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.212, one or more methods of guarding must protect operators from points of operation, rotating parts, and flying chips. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reports that contact with moving machinery remains a leading source of amputations and crush injuries in industrial settings.

Frequent culprits in our cases include cranes dropping loads, unsecured stacked materials, machinery stripped of its guards, defective equipment that malfunctions, and forklifts or vehicles operated without spotters. When defective machinery is involved, you may have a product liability claim against the manufacturer in addition to any workers’ compensation benefits.

Injuries These Accidents Cause

Contact accidents tend to produce severe, life-altering harm. Common results include traumatic amputations, crush injuries and degloving, traumatic brain injuries from struck-by impacts, spinal cord damage, broken bones, and internal organ injuries. Fatalities are tragically common when loads fall or workers are caught in machinery — which is why these cases often overlap with our wrongful death representation.

Who Is Liable Beyond Workers’ Compensation?

Liability depends on who caused the accident. If a defective machine failed, the manufacturer may be liable. If a subcontractor or property owner created the hazard, a third-party claim applies. And if your employer carries no workers’ comp, you can sue them directly. Each path can recover far more than comp benefits alone.

Texas is unusual: most private employers are not required to carry workers’ compensation. Employers who opt out are called “non-subscribers,” and under Texas Labor Code Chapter 406 they lose key common-law defenses — meaning an injured worker can file a lawsuit for full damages, including pain and suffering. If your employer is a subscriber, Texas Labor Code Chapter 408 generally makes comp your exclusive remedy against that employer, though third-party claims remain available.

When a defective product is the cause, Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code Chapter 82 governs your products claim. These cases often involve a design defect or a manufacturing defect in the equipment that failed. Where a property owner or contractor allowed an unsafe condition, a premises liability claim may also apply.

Meet attorney Pulkit Moudgil

Texas Deadlines: Don’t Wait to Act

In Texas, you generally have two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury lawsuit under Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. Product liability claims carry an additional 15-year statute of repose for manufacturing equipment. Missing these deadlines usually bars recovery entirely, regardless of how strong your case is.

The two-year clock is set by Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.003. Separately, you must report a work injury to your employer within 30 days. If your employer is a subscriber, you also have deadlines to file with the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Acting quickly also preserves the physical evidence — the machine, the guard, the maintenance records — that these cases turn on.

How Identifying the Cause Affects Your Claim

Determining what caused your injury is not just about understanding what happened — it decides who can be held liable and how much you can recover. A struck-by injury from a defective crane points to the manufacturer; a caught-in injury on an unguarded press points to maintenance and safety failures; a forklift strike may implicate a staffing agency or another contractor on site.

That’s why our team launches an immediate, independent investigation after every serious accident — working with engineers and safety experts to preserve the equipment before it disappears and to identify every responsible party. Contact injuries frequently overlap with other workplace injury types, including exposure incidents and work-related vehicle crashes, and we account for each potential claim.

How The Moudgil Law Firm Can Help

Immediate Evidence Preservation

We send spoliation letters fast to stop the defective machine or equipment from being repaired, scrapped, or altered — and we deal with insurers and company adjusters so you don’t have to.

Identifying Every Liable Party

Contact cases often involve manufacturers, leasing companies, maintenance contractors, and property owners. We map the entire chain to pursue the full scope of responsibility, not just a limited comp claim.

Maximizing Your Compensation

We build recovery through thorough documentation, engineering and safety-expert testimony, life-care planning for permanent injuries, and aggressive negotiation backed by genuine trial preparation.

You Pay Nothing Unless We Win

No consultation fees, no investigation costs, no expert witness fees. We advance every case expense and are only paid from your recovery.

Why Choose The Moudgil Law Firm?

Attorney Pulkit Moudgil personally handles every case — you’re never passed off to a paralegal. We know Houston courts, the judges, and the insurers that defend the region’s largest employers, and we prepare every case for trial, which pressures companies into fair settlements. You’ll always know your case status, with direct access to your attorney and honest case valuations.

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