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Every day, 13 perfectly healthy people across the country, people with no prior related illnesses, clock into work… and never leave. Between accidents on the job and occupational diseases, 150 people each day lose their lives to work-related circumstances.

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During a recent year, nearly 3 million people were reported to have been injured at work. For many, occupational hazards are a daily reality; those that work in more typically dangerous fields understand the risks associated with their jobs. But for many people, accidents at work are the farthest thing from their mind! The process of getting adequate workers’ compensation can be complex; an injured employee may be met with resistance each step of the way from employers and insurance companies who are unwilling to part with their money. If you have been injured on the job, Bill Green can assist you in getting all the funds you are entitled to. Money to help you to heal safely and efficiently, without worrying about how you’ll put food on the table while you’re out of work!

Common Work Related Injuries

For many working a traditional “nine to five” job, the idea of being injured at work is foreign and beyond comprehension. Still, there are many different ways one can suffer an injury while on the clock. Here are eight of the most common ways individuals can experience a work-related injury.

1. Overexertion Injuries

If you have ever sprained a muscle or hurt your back when lifting and bending, then you’ve experienced an injury from overexerting yourself. Injuries are most likely to be suffered when tasks are not ergonomically designed or when a fatigued body is performing the tasks. Overexertion is the number one cause of workplace injury! Examples include:

  • Throwing out your back when lifting heavy boxes
  • Pulling heavy equipment
  • Developing carpal tunnel syndrome from long days at the keyboard

2. Falling From Heights

You may believe the only workers at risk of falling from heights are those that work in construction. This isn’t true! While those who work on such sites may be more likely to experience falling from a height, have you ever considered the simple act of using a ladder in the supply closet? Examples of circumstances where someone might fall from a height include:

  • Falling off the roof of a building
  • Falling between stories of a building in mid-construction
  • Falling from a ladder while reaching for books on a high shelf

3. Slipping and Tripping

Have you ever seen a sign posted to notify you of wet floors in your office? Those signs are designed to prevent injuries due to slipping, the second most common causes of workplace injury reported every year. Some example of trip and fall accidents can be:

  • Slipping on the wet floor in your office while walking to a meeting
  • Tripping over a misplaced extension or computer cord
  • Stumbling over a stray piece of equipment left in a busy walkway
  • Tripping over debris in a poorly lit corridor
  • If you have slipped but do not fall, you might suffer from a “reaction injury,” which is the body’s natural response to trauma

4. “Walking Into” Injury

This may sound silly but, it’s very common for someone to accidentally walk into an object obstructing their path!

  • Walking into the corner of a glass table and cutting your side on its sharp edges
  • When carrying boxes with obstructed vision, you walk into a door that is supposed to be held open

5. Falling Objects

It’s not just construction workers that can be in danger here. In any workplace, there is always a chance that an object may unexpectedly fall from above and cause a head or bodily injury. There are many scenarios to describe an injury by a falling object, including:

  • Objects from a shelf may fall on someone sitting at a desk
  • On a construction site, a crane may drop its cargo
  • A salon worker can be struck in the head by heavy product not well secured in the cabinets

6. Vehicle Accidents

If driving a car or truck is part of your job, there is always a chance that you may be involved in an accident behind the wheel. Or, if you are part of a workplace containing moving vehicles, there is always a possibility you may be struck or run over by a vehicle. If you are in an accident, you may need a commercial truck lawyer (link) to help navigate your case! Here are some examples of accidents involving drivers behind the wheel:

  • A truck driver encouraged to make his route in record time stays awake past his shift and hits another car while driving drowsy
  • A driver designed to pick up lunch for a big meeting has a fender bender at a red light
  • On a construction site, a dump truck accident (link) pins a worker and renders him immobile

7. Machine Entanglement

For those working with heavy machinery or in a factory setting, an entanglement accident is a real danger! Clothing, long hair, and fingers can often get caught in places they simply aren’t meant to be. For example:

  • A female worker’s long hair gets caught in a conveyor belt mechanism and pulls her, injuring her neck and scalp in the process
  • A worker fixing an escalator in a mall finds his shoelaces caught in the machine and seriously injures his foot
  • A butcher at a supermarket accidentally slices his fingertips in a meat cutter

8. Office Violence

We don’t think of this often but people snap sometimes. Anger gets the better of them, tempers flare and arguments can get out of hand. Here are a few scenarios where workplace violence might occur:

  • Two co-workers get into a fight over shifts while making a weekly schedule, and one causes a bodily injury when he punches the other
  • A disgruntled employee rams his forklift into a coworker, causing him to break a leg

If I Was Injured at Work, What Are My Rights?

By law, employees are entitled to a workplace where reasonable safety accommodations are in place to assure the chance of accidents and injury are minimized. All of that being taken into account, sometimes accidents still happen. If your employment status can be classified as that of an actual employee (not a contract, undocumented or volunteer worker), then you have several legal entitlements upon injury. Workers’ comp laws can vary from state to state; if you have been injured in an accident, the experienced team at Green Law Firm can help you navigate the specifics established by the State of South Carolina.

As long as you meet the necessary requirements, here is what you are legally entitled to:

  • The right to file an injury claim in workers’ compensation court or the state industrial court
  • Consult with a doctor and receive proper medical treatments and services
  • Return to work when you are released and given notification by your physician
  • Pursue disability compensation if you are unable to return to work
  • File an appeal if you disagree with the decision made by your employer, his or her insurance company or the court
  • Retain and be represented by a work injury lawyer during the claim process

What Does Workers’ Comp Cover?

Workers’ compensation is designed to get you the medical care needed to return your quality of life after you have been injured on the job. It includes covering you for:

  • The actual cost of medical care as laid out in a doctor’s treatment plan
  • Prescription medication that you are required to take
  • Mileage to and from the doctor, treatment locations or the place you must pick up a prescription if you have to drive past a certain distance
  • Money and wages that are lost during the period you are unable to work
  • Permanent disability if you have been physically impaired, disfigured or experience a loss of limbs
  • Death benefits

We all deserve to come home safely after a day at the office. When accidents occur on the job, or sometimes death, there are families to support, bills to pay and people that need healing. For those injured on the job, the process of securing workers’ compensation can be fraught with fright. The detail-oriented team at Green Law Firm can assist you with your workers’ comp case from start to finish! They have years of experience helping injured employees to get the maximum benefits from the system to help them recover after a workplace accident occurs! Call the office at 888-800-2455 for a free, no-risk consultation today!

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