When a power tool or piece of workplace equipment fails in your hands, the injury that follows is not just a workplace accident. It may be a product liability case. Nevada law gives injured workers two separate legal paths after a tool defect causes harm, and understanding how those paths work together can be the difference between recovering workers’ compensation benefits alone and recovering the full value of what happened to you.
Shook & Stone handles both workers’ compensation and personal injury cases in Nevada. That matters in a tool defect case, because the two claims are filed separately, run simultaneously, and together can recover more than either one alone.
How defective tool injuries happen on Nevada job sites
Power tools and industrial equipment fail for predictable reasons. A table saw guard is improperly designed and does not protect against kickback. A nail gun’s sequential trigger mechanism is replaced with a cheaper contact trigger without adequate warning, leading to unintended firing. An angle grinder disc shatters at operating speed because of a manufacturing flaw in the abrasive bonding. A forklift’s braking system fails because of a hydraulic design defect the manufacturer knew about.
In every one of those scenarios, there are two responsible parties: the employer, who had a duty to provide a safe workplace, and the manufacturer, who had a duty to put a non-defective product into commerce. Nevada law gives you a claim against both.
Common defective tools and equipment we investigate
Shook & Stone evaluates product liability claims involving the full range of power tools and industrial equipment, including:
- Table saws and circular saws: Blade guard failures, kickback defects, and inadequate riving knives are among the most litigated tool defect categories in the country.
- Nail guns and pneumatic fasteners: Contact-trip trigger designs that allow unintended firing have been the subject of CPSC action and substantial injury litigation.
- Angle grinders: Disc failures and wheel guard defects cause laceration and penetration injuries. Disc shatter at operating speed can propel fragments at lethal velocity.
- Power saws and reciprocating tools: Blade clamping failures, inadequate anti-vibration systems, and defective guards.
- Scaffolding systems: Defective locking pins, failure to meet load ratings, and defective couplers.
- Forklifts and telehandlers: Hydraulic brake failures, stability defects, and defective overhead guards.
- Powder-actuated tools: Defective cartridge retention systems that allow unintended discharge.
Workers’ compensation: what it covers and what it does not
If you are injured on the job in Nevada, workers’ compensation is your first avenue of recovery against your employer. The Nevada industrial insurance system (NRS Chapter 616) provides benefits regardless of fault, which means you do not have to prove your employer did anything wrong to receive them. What you can recover through workers’ compensation includes medical expenses, a portion of lost wages during recovery, and permanent partial or total disability benefits if the injury causes lasting impairment.
Workers’ compensation does not cover pain and suffering. It does not cover the full value of your lost earning capacity beyond the statutory formula. It does not allow for punitive damages against a manufacturer who knew about a defect and sold the product anyway. Those additional categories of recovery are only available through a separate product liability lawsuit against the tool manufacturer.
The third-party product liability claim
When a defective product causes a workplace injury in Nevada, you are not limited to workers’ compensation. You can also file a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer of the defective tool. This is called a third-party claim, and it runs completely separately from the workers’ comp process.
Nevada follows strict product liability. To recover from the tool manufacturer, you do not have to prove the manufacturer was careless or negligent. You only need to establish three things:
- The product was defective when it left the manufacturer.
- The defect caused your injury.
- You were using the product in a reasonably foreseeable way.
Strict liability covers the entire supply chain: the company that designed the tool, the company that manufactured it, and the distributor or retailer that put it in your employer’s hands. That gives you more than one defendant to pursue and more than one source of recovery.
Free Consultation We’ll help you win the benefits you need to get your life back.
What the manufacturer is liable for
Tool defect claims typically fall into one of three categories under Nevada law. A manufacturing defect means something went wrong during production: the specific tool that injured you was built incorrectly, even if the design was sound. A design defect means the entire product line was engineered in a way that created an unreasonable hazard: every unit off the assembly line shared the same dangerous flaw. A failure to warn means the manufacturer did not adequately instruct users about a known hazard: inadequate safety labels, missing instructions, or warnings that failed to communicate the actual risk.
All three theories support a strict liability claim in Nevada. All three can apply simultaneously if the facts support it.
What additional compensation you can recover through a product liability suit
The damages available in a product liability lawsuit against a tool manufacturer go well beyond what workers’ compensation provides. In a successful claim, you may be able to recover:
- Pain and suffering, which workers’ compensation does not cover at all.
- The full value of lost wages and future earning capacity, not limited by the statutory WC formula.
- Full medical expenses, including long-term care and future treatment costs beyond the WC system.
- Disfigurement and permanent disability compensation at levels the WC system cannot reach.
- Punitive damages, which Nevada courts may award when a manufacturer’s conduct showed reckless disregard for safety, for example, if the company knew about the defect and sold the product without fixing it.
There is one important procedural note: when you recover from a third-party product liability lawsuit, Nevada’s workers’ comp insurer has a lien on the recovery for benefits it has already paid. An experienced attorney can negotiate that lien and ensure you keep as much of the recovery as possible.
Why having one firm handle both claims matters
Workers’ compensation and product liability involve different legal standards, different defendants, different timelines, and different types of evidence. Managing both simultaneously requires coordination that most single-practice firms cannot provide.
Shook & Stone handles both workers’ compensation and personal injury cases in Nevada. That means when you are injured by a defective tool on the job, the same firm that pursues your WC benefits is also investigating the manufacturer, preserving the defective product, retaining engineering experts, and building the product liability case. Nothing falls through the gap between practices.
The WC claim and the product liability claim also inform each other. Medical documentation gathered for the WC claim supports the product liability damages calculation. Evidence of the employer’s knowledge of the tool defect can be relevant to both. A single firm managing both ensures that strategy is coordinated rather than competing.
For the broader legal framework that applies to all defective product claims in Nevada, see our Las Vegas Defective Product Lawyer page. For more on Nevada’s strict liability standard, see our guide to Nevada product liability laws. If your workplace injury involved construction equipment rather than hand tools, our Las Vegas Workers’ Compensation Lawyer page covers the WC side in full.
Talk to a Nevada defective tool attorney
If you were injured by a power tool or piece of equipment on a Nevada job site, you may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a product liability claim worth pursuing. Your initial consultation at Shook & Stone is free, and we work on contingency, meaning you pay nothing unless we win. Call us today for a free evaluation of your case.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue the tool manufacturer if I already filed a workers’ compensation claim?
Yes. Workers’ compensation and product liability are entirely separate legal processes. Filing a WC claim does not bar you from also filing a product liability lawsuit against the tool manufacturer. The two claims run simultaneously and recover different categories of damages.
What if my employer owned the tool? Does that affect the product liability claim?
No. The product liability claim is against the manufacturer, not your employer. Your employer’s ownership of the tool does not affect the manufacturer’s strict liability for a defective product. The WC claim is against your employer’s insurer; the product liability claim is against the company that made the tool.
The tool was modified after it was manufactured. Does that affect my claim?
It depends on the modification and whether it was foreseeable. If the modification was unrelated to the defect that caused your injury, your claim is generally unaffected. If someone removed a safety guard the manufacturer originally installed, there may be a question about whether the modification was a contributing cause. These fact-specific questions are exactly what a product liability attorney evaluates during an initial consultation.
How long do I have to file a product liability claim in Nevada?
Nevada’s general statute of limitations for personal injury claims, including product liability, is two years from the date of injury under NRS 11.190(4)(e). The discovery rule can extend that deadline in certain circumstances, but you should not rely on it. The sooner you act, the more options you have and the more evidence can be preserved, including the defective tool itself.
DIRECTIONS 
