Heavy Machinery Accidents and Workers’ Compensation in Colorado
Many heavy equipment injuries come down to a machine that did not stop: a conveyor that kept running through a jam, a skid steer that rolled when the brake failed, a boom that swung while someone was still inside its reach. Colorado workers’ compensation pays for part of that injury, but rarely all of it, and the machine itself often points to someone other than your employer who should answer for the rest. This post walks through how these cases work, from the comp claim to the lawsuit outside it. A Denver construction injury lawyer at Boesen Law can look at both sides of your case in the first week, with no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
How Heavy Machinery Injures Colorado Workers
Heavy equipment injuries follow a handful of patterns, and the pattern usually tells you where the evidence is. Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 5,070 fatal work injuries in 2024, including 1,032 deaths among construction and extraction workers, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Behind every one of those numbers are many more workers who lived and now face surgery and months off the job.
- Caught in or between. A hand or arm pulled into a roller, auger, or pinch point, or a worker crushed between a machine and a wall or trench side.
- Struck by. A swinging bucket, a dropped load from a crane or telehandler, or a backing loader whose operator never saw the spotter.
- Rollovers and tip overs. Excavators, forklifts, and compact track loaders on grades, soft shoulders, or uneven fill.
- Unexpected startup. A machine that powers up during cleaning or repair because lockout procedures were skipped or a guard was removed.
- Vehicle and yard incidents. Dump trucks, water trucks, and excavation equipment moving through tight job sites with poor sight lines.
Each pattern leaves its own trail of records and physical evidence, and Boesen Law starts collecting that trail before the equipment is repaired, sold, or returned to a rental yard.
For answers to your questions, call:
(303) 999-9999
What Workers’ Comp Pays After a Machinery Injury
Colorado requires almost every employer with even one employee to carry workers’ compensation, and that coverage is the first money most injured equipment operators and laborers see. The system is no fault. You do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong, and a moment of carelessness on your part generally does not defeat the claim, although breaking a written safety rule can cut some wage benefits in half.
A comp claim after a machine injury typically pays for three things. Medical care comes first, including surgery, hospital stays, prosthetics after an amputation, and rehabilitation from an authorized provider. Wage loss comes next, paid at two thirds of your average weekly wage while a doctor keeps you off work. Permanent impairment benefits follow once you reach maximum medical improvement, and severe scarring or loss of a limb can add a disfigurement award.
If the company that employed you skipped coverage, the state’s Colorado Uninsured Employer Fund may step in after a judge awards benefits. That matters on job sites with layers of subcontractors, where the crew boss who hired you may not be insured at all. Our Denver workers’ compensation attorneys sort out which carrier owes the claim before a deadline passes.
When Someone Other Than Your Employer Owes You
Workers’ comp is the exclusive remedy against your employer, which means you generally cannot sue the company that signed your paychecks. It does not protect everyone else on the site. Under C.R.S. § 8-41-203, an injured worker can take comp benefits and still sue outside workers’ compensation against a negligent third party. That second claim is where pain, lost quality of life, and full lost earnings come into play.
The Equipment Manufacturer
A machine with a missing interlock, a guard that is easy to defeat, or a warning that never reached the operator can support a product liability claim against the company that designed or built it. These claims turn on the machine’s design history, recalls, and service bulletins, so the equipment has to be preserved in its post-incident condition.
The General Contractor or Another Subcontractor
On a multi-employer site, the company whose operator ran you over, or the general contractor that controlled the site plan, is not your employer. Their negligence can be the basis of a separate lawsuit, and Colorado’s comparative negligence rules will reduce, not erase, your recovery if they claim you share some fault.
The Rental Company or Maintenance Vendor
Rented lifts, loaders, and generators pass through many hands. A rental company that sent out a machine with worn brakes, or a vendor that botched a repair, can be responsible for what happened next.
The comp insurer will usually claim a lien against a third-party recovery for what it paid, but Colorado limits that lien. It cannot reach the part of a recovery paid for pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, or impaired quality of life. Boesen Law looks for these outside defendants in every machinery case, because that is often where the larger part of the recovery sits.
Evidence That Disappears After a Machine Injury
Machinery cases are won or lost on records that most workers never see. Employers and equipment owners are not always in a hurry to keep them. These are the items we move to lock down first:
- The machine itself. A preservation letter goes out immediately so the equipment is not repaired, scrapped, or put back into service before an engineer inspects it.
- Lockout and tagout logs. These show whether energy sources were isolated before anyone reached into the machine.
- Maintenance and inspection records. Missed service intervals and deferred repairs often explain a brake, hydraulic, or guard failure.
- Operator training and certification files. Crane, forklift, and aerial lift operators need documented training, and gaps point to the company that put them in the seat.
- Telematics and camera footage. Many newer machines log hours, faults, and location, and job site cameras may have captured the moment of injury.
- Rental contracts and site safety plans. These documents show who owned the machine, who maintained it, and who controlled the work area.
The elements of a product liability claim all rest on this kind of proof, and preserving it early is one of the most valuable things a lawyer can do in the first weeks after a machinery injury.
Injuries Heavy Equipment Leaves Behind
Machine injuries tend to be severe because of the forces involved, and several of them change how a person works for the rest of their life.
- Amputation. Fingers, hands, and arms lost to rollers, saws, and pinch points, followed by prosthetic fittings and retraining.
- Crush injuries and fractures. Shattered pelvises, legs, and feet that need plates, rods, and screws, often with more than one surgery.
- Head trauma. Falls from equipment and blows from swinging loads can cause brain injuries that show up as memory and concentration problems weeks later.
- Spinal injuries. Rollovers and falls from cabs can fracture vertebrae or damage nerves.
- Degloving and severe lacerations. Skin and tissue torn away by moving parts, with high infection risk and lasting scarring.
Every treating visit, restriction, and impairment rating becomes part of the value of both the comp claim and any third-party case, so we track the medical record from the start.
A Workers’ Comp Attorney’s View on Machinery Claims
Scott Ash, licensed in Colorado since 1989 and a veteran of several thousand disputed workers’ compensation trials, notes:
“When someone comes to me after a machinery injury, the first question I ask is who owned that machine and who last worked on it. The comp claim is usually the easy half. It pays medical bills and two thirds of wages, and it never pays a dollar for the pain of losing a hand or the fact that you cannot pick up your kid anymore. The cases where we recover the most are the ones where we find a product defect, a careless subcontractor, or a rental company that sent out a broken machine, and we find it before the evidence is gone.”
That is why we treat the first few weeks as an investigation, not just a claim filing.
What Cases Like Yours Have Recovered
A serious orthopedic injury can take years to recover from. In one case, Boesen Law secured an $800,000 settlement for a client whose fall while retrieving an item from a dumpster left a leg injury that needed plates, rods, and screws to reconstruct. Before hiring us, the client could not afford the extensive physical therapy the injury required, and the settlement allowed a real focus on recovery. More outcomes are listed on our case results page.
Contact a Boesen Law Heavy Equipment Injury Attorney
A heavy equipment injury can involve an employer’s insurer, an equipment maker, a general contractor, and a rental company, each with its own lawyers and adjusters. We fight for the maximum compensation you deserve across all of them, not only the comp benefits.
Contact Boesen Law for a free, in-person consultation at a time that works around your treatment. Someone answers day or night, our team works in English, Russian, and Spanish, and you owe no attorney fee unless we recover money for you.
FAQs About Heavy Machinery Accident Workers’ Compensation
What will workers’ comp not cover after a machinery injury?
Colorado workers’ comp does not pay for pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of enjoyment of life. It replaces only two thirds of your average weekly wage, up to a state maximum, and it does not pay wage benefits for the first three shifts you miss unless you are off work more than two weeks. Treatment from a doctor who is not an authorized provider may also go unpaid. A third-party claim against a manufacturer or contractor is how many workers recover those losses.
What should I not say to a workers’ comp adjuster?
Do not guess about how the accident happened, speculate about fault, or play down your symptoms to sound tough. Stick to what you know, and do not agree to a recorded statement about old injuries or unrelated medical history without advice first. Once you hire a lawyer, the Colorado Division of Workers’ Compensation notes that the adjuster may communicate only through your attorney.
Does physical therapy increase a workers’ comp settlement?
Physical therapy does not add a set dollar amount. What it does is build the medical record. Skipping sessions can give the insurer an argument that you are healing faster than you are or that you are not following your doctor’s plan, which can hurt both your temporary benefits and your impairment rating. Attending every session your authorized doctor orders protects the value of the claim.
How long do I have to file after a heavy equipment injury?
Give your employer written notice of the injury within 10 days. A formal workers’ compensation claim must generally be filed within two years under C.R.S. § 8-43-103, with limited room to extend that to three years with a reasonable excuse. A separate negligence or product claim against an outside company usually carries a two-year deadline, and Colorado’s personal injury time limits have exceptions that can shorten or extend it, so talk to a lawyer well before either clock runs out.
Call (303) 999-9999 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
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