Yes, you have the right to seek compensation for your medical expenses, pain, and suffering arising from a shower scalding injury due to the negligence of your landlord. Negligence of landlord may come from a variety of causes, for example; a faulty water heater that leads to serious burns.
Your landlord should ensure you and your home or property occupants are protected from a shower scalding burn. Your landlord should make sure that:
The temperature of shower water should not exceed 49 degrees Celsius
All hot water lines should have an anti-scald device installed to prevent the flow of hot water when the temperature exceeds the allowed limit
The building should have all faucets clearly labeled “Hot” or “Cold”
On your part as a tenant ensure you test the water using your wrist or elbow before using or placing a child into the bathtub. Do not put a child into an empty bathtub before the water is running. Place a child with his or her back facing the faucets so that they can’t reach to grab or turn them.
When renting out a property, a landlord is required by law to provide the safest and most secure environment possible for tenants to live in, and that includes a hot water system not prone to a scalding injury.
Liability
File a liability claim to an Austin burn injury lawyer to hold your landlord legally responsible for a shower scalding injury which he or she didn’t inform you the tenant about and that aren’t blatantly obvious. On the other hand, if you live in Morristown, working with a local personal injury attorney in Morristown might be a better option. The law surrounding liability for these injuries can vary from state to state, so it is important to have a lawyer who is familiar with the laws in your specific area.
If a landlord does not rectify dangerous conditions a tenant has reported, even if they are self-inflicted, he or she will be held liable.
You can file a personal injury lawsuit against your landlord’s insurance company for medical bills, lost earnings, physical suffering, and emotional distress compensation, among others.
You also have the right to sue for damage to personal property, such as electronic devices that results from faulty maintenance.
You have the right to sue your landlord to be held liable for a shower scalding injury that arises from living in a unit if:
The landlord did not fix a faulty hot water system on time
The landlord did not entirely fix a faulty hot water system — he or she fixed it in a careless manner
He or she did not follow safety laws in installment and operationalization of a water heating system
He or she did not notify you of a dangerous situation of a water heating system
A Shower Scalding Injury Lawsuit
It takes only a few seconds for boiling water or steam to cause burn injury to your skin. This burn can become infected to cause further harm. The most at risk are children, the elderly, and the disabled.
When a lawyer handles your shower scalding injury lawsuit, he or she collects evidence about:
The source of the injury
The temperature of hot water at the time the skin was exposed to
The period of exposure
What preventive measures could have been enforced
Besides your landlord; a hotel or motel, daycare, a school or homeowner could also be held accountable
Hot water at 60 Celsius only takes 5 seconds even less when exposed to the skin to cause injury, even causing a disfiguring burn.
A shower scalding injury can occur in hot water bathtubs, and sinks because of the period the skin is exposed to the heat.
Do you know that even hot beverages can cause a scalding injury? So, coffee shops and restaurants should lower the temperature of beverages.
A burn injury lawyer will help you sue your landlord, restaurant, hotel, resort, motel, schools, or property institution for harm caused by a defective product that causes scalding injury.
Safe Shower Water Temperature
Simply checking your shower water temperature to 49 Celsius before closing shower doors doesn’t necessarily mean that all of the water in the heater is actually reading at that temperature.
Even if the temperature is checked at 49 Celsius, water at extremely hot temperatures may still flow out because the heater isn’t uniform and the temperature gauge may not be reading accurately. Water is typically heated from the bottom of the heater, so the temperature of the water may not be entirely uniform at 49 Celsius.
Additionally, there are changes in pressure that occur inside the hot water which can affect the overall temperature.
49 Celsius is the recommended maximum safe water temperature because beyond that reading, the hot water will cause third-degree burns.
So, your landlord is required to follow the law in the installation of hot water systems; for showers clearly labeled and with safety precautions for maximum safe water temperature. There should be both a water temperature toggle switch and a safety warning label indicating a maximum safe temperature.
The temperature toggle switch should not be counted as the stop valve, regulator switch, or position stop — other equipment must be added. If your landlord fails to follow this regulation, he or she is liable for negligence claim and will be held responsible for failing to prevent a shower scalding injury.
Sources
https://www.evanstxlaw.com/personal-injury/burn-injuries/
