“I cut my hand at work.”

The machine is evidence

If a guard was removed, bypassed, inadequate, or never designed for the foreseeable use of the equipment, there is a products liability case against the manufacturer — separate from workers’ compensation, and it pays for pain and suffering and disfigurement, which comp does not.

Preserve the machine. Do not let it be repaired, modified, or scrapped. In days, not months. This is the difference between a product claim and no product claim.

Photograph the machine, the guard or its absence, and the point of operation.

And check the Cal/OSHA citation history — public and free. A prior citation for the same condition is close to the center of a § 4553 petition: one-half more, uninsurable, paid by the employer personally, twelve-month deadline. How.

Third-party claims.

If any part was amputated

Including partially.

The law gives amputations up to 240 compensable weeks of temporary disabilityTD / TTD / TPD Temporary Disability, Total or Partial. Wage replacement while recovering. Two-thirds of average weekly earnings; 2026 maximum $1,764.11/week. within five years of the injury, instead of 104 — 136 additional weeks, up to about $240,000 at 2026 rates. (§ 4656(d), added by SB 1127, separately gives 240 weeks for a § 3212.1 presumptive cancer, and without the five-year window.)

The statute says “amputations” without qualification. The defense argues for a narrow reading that excludes fingertips and surgical revisions. The law requires the workers’ compensation statutes to be liberally construed in favor of the injured worker. It is contested, it is worth six figures, and it is worth litigating. More.

What to expect from the rating

Digit values are proportional and smaller than people expect. 100% thumb = 40% of the hand. Index or middle finger = 20% each. Ring or little finger = 10% each. And 100% upper extremity converts to 60% whole person, not 100%.

Watch for what gets left out: neuroma at the site, complex regional pain syndrome after a crush or amputation, cold intolerance, and grip and pinch limitations. Amputation. · CRPS.

And a tendon or nerve injury is not a simple laceration

Say specifically what you cannot do — grip, pinch, hold small objects, feel temperature, work in cold. The functional description is what the rating is built from.