Repetitive Stress Injuries and NJ Workman’s Comp
Repetitive stress injuries (RSI) have been making headlines lately. While carpel tunnel is the most well-known of this family of injuries, there are many others.
These musculoskeletal disorders can also strike knees, shoulders, the rotator cuff, the lower back, and the elbows. And if your work is causing these injuries, they’re covered by workman’s comp.
Determining Whether RSIs are Work Injuries
To close off avenues whereby your employer may challenge the work-based nature of the injury, it’s important to cover your bases.
Your first step will be to go see your own doctor. Bring a job description. If the injury is aggravated every time you work, that’s a good clue that it’s work related, but a doctor can verify it.
Note that you are not trying to establish that no other activity exacerbates the injury. If you’re having problems at work you may be having problems at home, too. What you’re trying to establish is that your activities on the job have made a “material contribution” to causing the injury. That means they’re a major source of the problem.
See also: 8 Workman’s Comp Mistakes to Avoid.
Next Steps
Once you’ve established you have a work-related RSI you need to make a report to your employer just as you would if you’d taken an acute injury on the job. Bringing the problem to your employer’s condition is the start of every successful workman’s comp claim.
You’ll fill out an accident report for an RSI too, just as you would for any other injury. And then ask for medical treatment from the doctor the employer assigns to you.
From there, the RSI claim should progress like any other personal injury case.
See also: Delay in Your Worker’s Compensation Claim: What You Can Do
When the Employer Fights Your Claim
You need these benefits to survive, not just to pay medical bills. So it may seem beyond cruel that an employer might choose to fight the claim.
But that’s what we’re here for. If you’ve received a repetitive stress injury at work and are having trouble receiving the benefits you’re entitled to, call the Law Offices of Albert J. Talone. We can help you claim your benefits. We work on a contingency fee basis, and at least part of our fee is paid by the compensation insurance carrier after you get your settlement. (See our
FAQ: “How does the attorney get paid?”)
Call now for a free consultation.
