Repetitive Motion and Stress Injuries & Workers’ Compensation Settlement Benefits
People don’t often think of repetitive stress injuries or repetitive motion injuries when they think about workers’ compensation claims.
Usually they think of a life-altering instant the scaffolding that collapsed or the machine that severed a finger. Frequently people attach some measure of blame to the employer in these cases, as well.
But workers’ compensation cases deal with much more than those limited instances. There’s no requirement that the company be at fault in a workers’ compensation case, nor is there a requirement that an injury must be traced to a single, specific event.
Workers’ Comp & Repetitive Stress Injuries
Many claims for workers’ compensation are approved in cases involving injuries that develop gradually as part of a person’s day-to-day job.
From asthma to hearing loss to repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, if an injury or ailment occurs on the job or as a result of the job, an employee may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits.
Even with a pre-existing condition, workers may be eligible for compensation if their conditions are made permanently worse by the job.
About Repetitive Motion Injuries
Repetitive stress injuries (also known as repetitive motion injuries or cumulative trauma injuries), such as carpal tunnel syndrome, are one of the largest sources of workers’ compensation claims nationwide. Assembly line jobs, in particular, have a high incidence of repetitive motion injuries, including bursitis, tendonitis, rotator cuff injuries, epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and carpal tunnel.
These workplace injuries don’t result from one traumatic incident, but rather continued overuse of body parts caused by repetitive motions related to the job duties over a long period of time.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, for example, is a painful progressive condition caused by the compression of a key nerve in the wrist, the median nerve. This nerve, which controls the sensations and nerve impulses for much of the hand, passes through a narrow passageway of ligament and bones called the carpal tunnel.
When swelling causes the median nerve to be compressed in the tunnel, numbness, tingling, and pain can result. Left untreated, hand muscles can deteriorate, making it difficult to grasp objects or perform other work with the hands.
These injuries can sometimes be called repetitive motion injuries, repetitive strain injuries or simply RSI.
How Workers Compensation Can Help with Repetitive Stress Injuries
Workers’ compensation is designed to pay for injured workers’ lost wages and accumulated bills from medical care. Workers’ comp will also continue to pay for necessary medical expenses related to an injury after an employee returns to work.
Unlike a personal injury claim, though, workers’ compensation does not provide compensation for pain and suffering from the work injury. Most any injury, if it occurs on the job, is covered by workers’ comp, even if the injury was the workers’ own fault.
Because workers’ comp covers such a wide range of work-related injuries, an important key in a workers’ comp case is establishing that the injury occurred on the job. In some cases that is quite easy, but repetitive stress injuries take time to develop, so it is often more difficult to establish that an injury like carpal tunnel syndrome is work-related.
Under Pennsylvania law, if a causal connection between the disability and the person’s work activity isn’t obvious (as it would be from a single incident), the legal burden is on the person making the claim to show the connection by unequivocal medical testimony.
In other words, the injured person must present testimony from a doctor indicating that in the doctor’s medical opinion, the injury was caused by the person’s work. Although other doctors might disagree, the key is that the testimony itself cannot be vague, doubtful, or open to more than one interpretation-in the doctor’s opinion, there must be a clear connection. Ultimately, a Workers’ Compensation Judge’s decision determines if the medical evidence presented shows an unequivocal link between work and the injury.
Carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries can take a worker away from his or her job for days, weeks, or even permanently. Accordingly, it is important to both seek medical help and to seek workers’ compensation to help pay for any loss of income and medical expenses.
Repetitive Trauma Injuries in the Workplace
Not all work-related injuries stem from a specific incident. An injury caused by repetitive trauma can slowly manifest itself over time, leading to serious pain and even long-term disability.
Known interchangeably as repetitive motion injuries or repetitive stress injuries, damage caused by doing the same action repeatedly at work may mean the injured worker is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
Please note, there is no requirement that a work injury be tied to a single, specific event. Injuries caused by overuse and repeated stress can qualify you for workers’ comp benefits. Krasno Krasno & Onwudinjo will help you through the process.
Repetitive Stree & Trauma: Some Injuries Build Slowly Over Time
Because they are often the result of activities that are not inherently dangerous, it can sometimes be difficult to determine the exact cause of a repetitive trauma injury. That leaves an opening for insurance companies to argue that the injury in question was not work-related at all.
Since founding our Pennsylvania firm in 1936, we’ve helped thousands of people prove their injuries were the result of repetitive stress, recovering compensation in a variety of circumstances. We handle cases involving:
- Injuries to hands, wrists, and arms (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) resulting from years of typing, using vibrating tools, or gripping, flexing, and extending repeatedly over time.
- Shoulder and neck pain traced to hours in front of a computer, lifting, or sitting.
- Hip, knee, and back injuries after years of repeated lifting, sitting and standing, or other motions.
Whatever the cause of your repetitive trauma injury, it must be taken seriously and should be addressed immediately. You need access to appropriate medical care to limit the possibility of permanent disability. In addition, certain accommodations may need to be made to prevent further damage once you return to work. You deserve to work in a safe environment that does not compromise your health.
Trusted Experience From A Long-Standing Firm
For more than 80 years, our Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys have devoted their lives to helping injured workers. We encourage you to read what some of our past clients have to say by taking a looking at our 150-plus positive Google reviews. Their words mean more than anything we could say about ourselves.
Although times have certainly changed since our firm’s establishment, our dedication to our clients has not. We remain committed to helping injured and disabled individuals secure much-needed workers’ comp benefits.
Pennsylvania Law, Workers’ Comp & Repetitive Stress Injuries
Pennsylvania workers’ comp law limits the amount of time a worker has to notify his or her employer of an injury if the worker wants to receive workers’ comp benefits – but this can be difficult to determine in the case of a repetitive stress injury.
Hiring A Workers’ Comp Lawyer For RSI
The best idea is to notify an employer as soon as a problem becomes apparent, and seek medical treatment and legal advice shortly thereafter. Working with a workers’ compensation attorney who has experience in the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system can help to ensure your rights and interests are protected.