There will always be a workplace injury that could not be completely avoided. This is normal for any operating business, even when they have all safety issues taken care of. The problem when workers claim for compensation is that they often lose time at work, or have to pay heavy medical bills because of their injury.
Claiming for a workplace injury can also be difficult if you don’t know what constitutes a valid claim. If you don’t follow rules and the injury was due to negligence, you may just not be covered after all. Here are three of the common examples of workers’ compensation claims.
Overworked
Overexertion is no laughing matter. How many people say they work their fingers to the bone? For many, this is true. Working too hard physically or mentally can cause havoc on the body, not to mention your stress levels. If you are too tired to properly operate heavy machinery, you could cause dangerous accidents that affect others, and not just yourself.
Overexertion accidents happen the most often because people try to take on extra work, or they try to work too quickly to get a job done.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
This physical injury occurs when someone does a repetitive motion over extended periods without a break. It can happen to an office worker who types on the computer too much or has to operate a mouse for eight hours a day. Employers can provide ergonomic equipment in these cases, but what about other situations where this isn’t possible?
Carpal tunnel syndrome can also happen in construction sites when a worker has to carry large amounts of bags of cement on their shoulder. The constant motion of bending down, picking up and carrying things around can aggravate any joints causing this problem. If you don’t understand what workplace injuries are you eligible for compensation, check the linked blog. You may be entitled to claim because of carpal tunnel syndrome due to the type of job you have.
Toxic Chemical Exposure
Most people encounter toxic chemicals at work daily. Even those ink cartridges at your office job are dangerous to your skin, or if you breathe in the fumes. There are hundreds of fatal and life-threatening substances that manufacturers, construction workers, and factory staff have to be careful of. Any long-term exposure to a chemical, even the less potent ones, can still cause serious neurological damage, and some even cause incurable diseases.
If you work in this kind of environment, you should see lots of signage around the building warning you not to get close. A person also needs to be properly educated in these substances and what to do if they get accidental exposure to something harmful.
Workers can claim compensation for a variety of issues that have not been mentioned here, but these are the most common. Another major thing to look out for is workplace violence in cases where an unhappy employee may take their frustration out in the office. Any harmful incident or act that occurs on company property is liable to pay out for a workers’ compensation claim.
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