Injured At Work? Let Jim Vander Linden Help Call Today 612-339-6841!! How Common Is An Injury At Work?

Seven occupations had rates greater than 375 cases per 10,000 full-time workers: transit and intercity

bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; firefighters; nursing assistants; laborers and freight, stock and material movers; and emergency medical technicians and paramedics. transit and intercity bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; and firefighters. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of days-away-from-work cases in 2012 with 63,690 cases (primarily in private industry). 

Private sector incidence rate for days-away-from-work cases decreased to 102 per 10,000 full-time

workers in 2012 from 105 in 2011. Despite the overall decrease, four occupational groups had increases in their incidence rates in 2012 including: computer and mathematical occupations; community and social service occupations; personal care and service occupations; and transportation and material moving occupations. The number of cases for these four broad occupation groups also increased. Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest incidence rate (258, up from 251 in 2011) of all occupation groups.

Transit and intercity bus drivers had an incidence rate of 852 cases per 10,000 full-time workers for

all ownerships. The majority of injuries and illnesses to bus drivers occurred in local government

with a rate of 1,026—statistically unchanged from the previous year. For private sector bus drivers, the incidence rate increased to 417 from 342 in 2011. Three other occupations with high rates and at least 0.1 percent of full-time equivalent employment occurred primarily in local government or state government: police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers; and fire fighters.

• Musculoskeletal disorder cases (388,060) accounted for 34 percent of all injury and illness

cases in 2012. Both the incidence rate and case count remained unchanged from the

previous year; however the median days away from work increased by 1 day to a median of 12 days.

Laborer and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of MSD cases and an

incidence rate of 164 per 10,000 full-time workers—up from 140 in 2011.

Occupation
 

Seven occupations had rates greater than 375 cases per 10,000 full-time workers: transit and intercity

bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; firefighters; nursing

assistants; laborers and freight, stock and material movers; and emergency medical technicians and

paramedics. Injuries and illnesses to four of the seven occupations occurred primarily to state and local government workers: transit and intercity bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; and firefighters. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of days-away-from-work cases in 2012 with 63,690 cases (primarily in private industry) and an incidence rate of 391 (up from 367 in 2011).Only occupations that had at least 0.1 percent of full time employment are included in the list of high rate occupations.

For all occupations, the incidence rate for the public sector was over 71 percent higher than in the

private sector. The public sector rates were more than two times greater than private sector rates for

laborers, freight, and material movers, janitors and cleaners, and landscaping and grounds keeping. 

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand 63,690 10 Overexertion and bodily reaction (44%),

Contact with object or equipment (33%)
Nursing assistants 44,100 6 Overexertion and bodily reaction (55%),

Falls, slips, trips (18%)

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers 41,840 18 Overexertion and bodily reaction (36%),

Falls, slips, trips (29%)

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and

housekeepers 38,610 11 Overexertion and bodily reaction (41%),

Falls, slips, trips (30%)

Police and sheriff's patrol officers 32,190

Violence and other injuries by persons or

animals (27%), Transportation incidents

(20%), Overexertion and bodily reaction

(20%), Falls, slips, trips (20%)

 

 

How To Determine if You are Experiencing a Workplace Injury!

First, if you have suffered an injury at work and have not reported it to your employer, you should do so immediately! There are strict deadlines for actually reporting an injury once you are aware the injury is related to your work activities. Failure to report the injury might be an obstacle from any possible recovery.
Notice of a work- related injury should be given to a supervisor, human resources director, or someone else in a position of authority with the employer. This person should give you a DWC-1 to fill out. The DWC-1 outlines the nature of your work injury and how it relates to your work. You or your employer should then recommend you to a Redding Worker's Compensation doctor to document the injury and seek treatment.

However, some injuries are difficult to determine if they are work related. The legal test is whether the injury arose out of employment through the course of the employment.
Job Duties Cause an Injury or Disabling Condition Through Repetitive Use During Your Employment.

Not all work comp injuries are the result of one specific incident. If you fall down a flight of stairs and break your leg while at work, anyone could determine the specific time and date the work injury occurred. This is considered a "specific injury." It is fairly easy to determine if this injury is work-related.

However, some injuries are more difficult to determine if they were directly caused by your employment. For example, what about work activities which over a period of time result in a painful or disabling medical condition? An example of this kind of injury would  be someone who does manual labor and spends all day, everyday, bent over shoveling or lifting. Due to the lifting and shoveling, this person develops lumbar back pain which requires medical treatment. If the work activities of lifting and shoveling contributed to his/ her back injury, this would be a repetitive injury work comp claim.  Other examples would include: if you use your hands repetitively at work and you develop hand/wrist pain; or if you do a lot of walking and climbing and develop knee pain; or if you are exposed to toxins and/or chemicals over a period of time and develop respiratory problems; or if you are exposed to loud noises at work and gradually develop hearing problems. These types of injuries are labeled repetitive, or "cumulative trauma" injuries.

Cumulative trauma injuries happen gradually at work, over a period of time or during a course of repetitive action. These injuries are generally considered to arise out of your employment through the course of doing your work activities. Therefore, they would be a work-related injury and fall under work comp.

One of the trickiest parts of cumulative injuries is determining the date injury occurred. The date of injury for a repetitive use injury, can be the first date you see a physician, the first day you become disabled or limited from the injury, or the last day you work, among other possible dates.

If you suspect that you have such a claim from your work activities, you should give notice to your employer immediately, explaining you have a medical condition which you believe is related to your work activities. Again, follow-up with your physician right away and describe in detail what your job duties were and how they seemed to cause or increase your symptoms.Our Recommendation:If you are unsure whether you have been injured on the job, or if you have a medical condition or disability which you believe was caused or aggravated by your work activities, immediately file a report of injury with your employer and contact our office for a FREE consultation. We will advise you of the rights and benefits available to you.

What Type of Injuries Qualify For Workmans Compensation??



If you are seeking workers' compensation benefits, you will have to show that your injury or illness is work-related. Usually, if you were doing something for the benefit of your employer, and you were injured or became ill as a result, then your injury or illness is work-related and you can receive benefits as long as you meet the other eligibility requirements.

Although the "work-related" requirement seems simple, it can get tricky. Some common situations are covered below. If your injury or illness falls into a gray area, you may want to consult with an attorney to find out whether you will be eligible for benefits.

Lunch Breaks

Typically, injuries or illnesses that happen on an employee's lunch break are not covered under workers' compensation. For example, if you sprained your ankle while walking into a deli to pick up your lunch (or lunch for your coworkers), then you probably cannot claim workers' compensation for that injury. However, if you were also picking up lunch for your boss, then the injury might be covered. If you sprained your ankle in a cafeteria on the company's premises, then your injury might be covered by workers' comp.

Company Events

Many companies sponsor special events like parties, picnics, or baseball games -- and injuries sustained at these events are usually covered by workers' compensation. For example, let's say To drinks too much wine at the company anniversary party and decides to twirl his coworker Kari above his head while they are dancing. Unfortunately, he drops Kari, and they both fall. Kari breaks her arm, and Tom suffers a  strained neck. Both injuries are probably covered by workers' compensation.

Travel

If you are injured on your commute to or from work, your injury probably isn't covered by workers' compensation. However, there are sometimes when injuries during travel are covered. For example, if you are traveling for work, but not to your fixed work site (on a business trip, for example), then your injuries will probably be covered. If you are a traveling salesperson with no regular work site, then injuries you sustain while driving to meet with a customer will probably be covered. Or, if you are injured during your regular commute but are driving a company vehicle, then your injuries will probably be covered.

Misconduct

If you were injured while breaking a workplace safety rule or while doing something else that your employer has prohibited (even a criminal act), your injury may still be covered by workers' compensation, depending on the level of your misconduct. This is part of the workers' compensation bargain: Employees do not have the right to sue their employer for work-related injuries, but those injuries are usually covered by workers' compensation, regardless of fault.

As an example of how injuries that stem from misconduct are usually still covered under workers' compensation, let's say Ann and Lee work on the assembly line at Widget World. One day, they decide to play catch with a two-pound metal ball that is part of the machinery. This is a direct violation of a safety rule, which prohibits playing with the equipment. While Ann is attempting to catch the ball, it slips through her hands and hits her in the head, knocking her unconscious and causing a minor brain injury. Her injury could still be covered by workers' compensation, even though she was violating a work rule when she got hurt, especially if the employer knew this type of horseplay occurred and condoned it.
There are some exceptions to this general rule. For example, if your injuries were self-inflicted, then they might not be covered.

Preexisting Conditions

If you have a preexisting condition, and your job aggravates or exacerbates it in a way that results in an injury or illness, then the injury is probably covered by workers' compensation. For example, when Bill was 30, a disc in his back ruptured. The injury resolved itself within six months and has not bothered him since. He is now 45 and works in a department store. One day, he ruptures the same disc while lifting a heavy object off a shelf. Although his job did not cause his initial injury, it certainly caused it to reoccur. The injury is now covered by workers' compensation.

Hearing Loss

People who work in noisy environments -- such as construction sites or manufacturing plants -- often suffer hearing loss over time. Unless there is some other obvious reason for the impairment, this injury is usually covered by workers' compensation.

Mental Conditions

Mental conditions that are job-related are covered by workers' compensation. For example, if you are traumatized by witnessing another employee injured or killed on the job, your trauma is compensable by workers' comp. Conditions caused by a stressful workplace environment can also be compensable. In addition, if you become depressed because you have suffered from a workplace injury, that depression is covered by workers' compensation.
Be warned, however, that it can be hard to prove that the mental condition actually exists and that it was caused by workplace events. This is a situation in which a consultation with a lawyer can help you decide how to proceed.

Diseases and Illnesses

If you have a disease or illness resulting from your work, then you are entitled to workers' compensation. For example, workers suffering from asbestosis, which is a disease caused by exposure to asbestos, can receive workers' compensation benefits, as can workers suffering from black lung disease, which is caused by inhaling coal dust. Except in the case of recognized environmental illnesses like these, however, it can be difficult to prove that a disease is work-related and not something that would have happened anyway.