When in doubt, contact a workers’ compensation lawyer to verify if a workplace accident or injury is covered by your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy.
When a worker is injured on the job, they may receive inaccurate information from their employer regarding qualifying for workers’ compensation benefits. If your claim was denied, or your supervisor told you not to file for benefits, request a free consultation with a workers’ compensation lawyer from our office.
Any serious injury is worth getting guidance from a trusted legal professional. Understand that even if an injury is covered by workers’ compensation, in cases where a permanent or fatal injury resulted, an employer may not be willing to tell you about work comp or your ability to get medical care and lost wages paid by the workers’ compensation insurance company.
Here are five common workplace injuries that under most circumstances qualify for workers’ compensation:
1. Broken or fractured bone (hands, legs, arm or spine). Even office workers are at risk for breaking bones on the job if they slip and fall in an icy employee parking lot, or a spilled liquid or torn carpeting causes them to lose their balance. This type of injury can be disastrous if it causes you to lose work.
2. Illness or disease due to exposure to toxic substances. Though the use of asbestos was largely banned a number of years ago, it is still present in many buildings and products. Even partial exposure to asbestos fibers can cause long term and often fatal diseases such as mesothelioma. What makes this workplace injury all the more difficult when it comes to obtaining workers’ compensation benefits is that the worker’s symptoms may not present until decades after exposure to the asbestos or other toxic material. By then, the worker may have moved on to another company, or the company may have gone out of business.
3. Soft tissue injury. This type of workplace injury is common across a number of industries, especially among construction workers.
4. Eye injury. Whether this occurs from fine metal shavings while operating machinery, or from cleaning a work area, this can be a permanent injury that causes lifelong pain.
5. Lower back pain. Many workers who spend long hours sitting in a chair, or lifting heavy boxes, or simply twisting and turning their body as part of their job can sustain lower back pain. At first, it may not be that noticeable, but as time progresses, the injury can worsen and result in chronic pain.
If you were injured at work and want to make sure you qualify for maximum benefits, remember that there are workers’ compensation lawyers from Law Offices of Franks, Koenig & Neuwelt, who can help you and provide you with more information, schedule a free consultation with a trusted workers’ compensation lawyer relies on.