What you should do if you are injured during an emergency at work?
If an emergency such as a fire, toxic gas leak or chemical spill occurs at your workplace, causing you an injury, removing you to a safe place (away from the hazard) should be the first task of the employer. Do you know what to do if you are injured during an emergency at work?
The employer should have an emergency evacuation, rescue, and safety plan in place along with safety equipment and trained personnel.
Seek Medical Attention
You must seek medical attention as soon as possible following the workplace emergency and accident.
Visiting the emergency room is warranted in most cases. If further medical treatment is advised, your employer should give you a list of panel providers for you to choose from for treatment. Typically, if you want your medical bills paid by the workers’ compensation carrier, you are required to treat with the panel providers for the first 90 days after your injury.
Read MoreWhat To Do When Denied Worker’s Compensation?
Not all employers are alike! If you or someone you know suffers a work injury, the first step is to give “Notice” in some fashion to your boss, supervisor, or foreman. Your PA employer is then to turn the claim over to their workers’ compensation insurance carrier to be processed. Once this is done, the assigned workers’ compensation adjuster has twenty-one (21) days to either accept or deny the claim. Even if the claim is accepted, it could be accepted temporarily or as a medical only, which can be explained by an experienced PA workers’ compensation attorney in further detail.
PA workers’ compensation benefits are in two (2) parts; there is the wage loss paid to you by the workers’ compensation carrier while you are out of work because of the injury, and there are medical benefits paid for the treatment for the work injury.
If the workers’ compensation adjuster denies your claim, your only next step is to file a Workers’ Compensation Claim Petition. In order to have the best chance of winning on the Claim Petition, you really need to have a PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer with years of experience represent you. The burden of proof is always on you, the injured worker, to prove that you suffered a work injury while in the course and scope of your employment.
Read MoreHydration at Work During Summer Months in PA
Many areas in Pennsylvania experience high temperatures in the summer months. Although doctors advise people to minimize heat exposure in these months, many PA workers don’t have that option. Staying hydrated at work isn’t always as easy as it seems.
Making sure that workers are sufficiently hydrated is one of the most effective ways to protect them during the season of heat waves.
Heat Illness – Risk Factors
Workers should be aware of the various risk factors that could reduce their heat tolerance levels.
Risk factors that may contribute to heat illness include hot air and humidity, limited air circulation, indoor radiant heat (from hot manufacturing equipment and processes), heavy protective clothing, and dehydration (not drinking an adequate amount of fluid).
Read More5 High Risk Injury Jobs in PA
Injuries at the workplace can range from minor to severe, and the risks can vary depending on the nature of the job.
Workplace injuries can be serious, affecting the victim’s quality of life as well as reducing their ability to earn wages for a period of time, or even permanently in some cases.
Here is a description of five high risk injury jobs in Pennsylvania:
Construction
Numerous potential hazards are present at various construction sites across Pennsylvania. Even after observing all the safety precautions, construction workers continue to be at a high risk of jobsite accidents and serious injuries.
Figures published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that 4 out of 100 construction workers suffer every year from workplace injuries. This high injury rate reflects the high-risk job environment in the construction industry in PA.
At What Point Is It Necessary To Hire A Workers’ Compensation Lawyer?
The timing of hiring a workers’ compensation lawyer can happen at any time….in most cases sooner is better. After your work injury has occurred and you give timely “Notice” to your employer of the same, many different scenarios can take place. Your work injury could be accepted, denied, or accepted temporarily and/or for medical only.
When Do I hire a Workers’ Compensation Attorney?
If your work injury is denied, a Claim Petition must be filed in order for you to attempt to obtain workers’ compensation benefits, both wage loss and medical. In order to proceed and having the best chance of succeeding with the Claim Petition, a seasoned workers’ compensation lawyer should be retained. In the process of litigation on a Claim Petition, the same will be assigned to a workers’ compensation judge, who will hear evidence including your live testimony in court. Also, in most cases, medical testimony from your doctor and the doctor hired on behalf of the workers’ compensation carrier/your employer must be taken via a deposition, for which the doctors charge money, with their fee being thousands of dollars. There are time deadlines and rules of engagement that must be followed, which a seasoned PA Workers’ Compensation Attorney knows. Also, in the process, the parties will be given an opportunity to participate in a “Mandatory Mediation” which is a way to potentially settle your case. It is critical to know how to create a demand that will be taken seriously and result in a settlement with the largest amount of money. Here again is where hiring an experienced PA Workers’ Compensation Lawyer is to your advantage.
Read MorePTSD and Workers’ Compensation in PA
Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is a mental health condition that may occur at any point of time after you have witnessed or experienced a significantly traumatic event. PTSD in the workplace is more common than one might think, especially if a work injury has occurred.
When such an event occurs at the workplace in Pennsylvania, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation for your PTSD condition.
If you believe you are suffering from PTSD, you should promptly seek medical advice. Any delay in treatment could worsen your condition and put your workers’ comp claim in PA at risk.
Negotiating a PA Workers’ Compensation Settlement
Once you begin receiving your workers’ compensation wage loss and medical benefits, it will only be a matter of time until your employer and their workers’ compensation carrier will take steps to try and stop your compensation benefits or try to settle your claim for a lump sum amount of money. You will likely need to negotiate a PA Workers’ Compensation. settlement. It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when.
As time goes by, your employer and their workers’ compensation carrier will send you to undergo independent medical examinations and based on the reports from those examinations will attempt to modify, suspend, or terminate your wage loss and medical benefits. It is important to understand that if they are not successful the first time around with the litigation before a workers’ compensation judge, they will keep trying until they are successful or want you to settle your case altogether. Rather than risk losing benefits, many PA injured workers opt to settle their case.
Read MoreIf I Am Injured at Work, Can I Choose My Own Doctor in Pennsylvania?
One of the misconceptions many workers have is that the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation system requires a worker to undergo treatment for workplace injuries from a company specified doctor only. However, this is not the whole truth.
Can you stick with your preferred physician/medical-center?
The quick answer is ‘yes’. However, your employer may require you to subscribe to a “Panel Acknowledgement” at the time of hiring, which can be re-iterated immediately after your injury. With this, the employer may provide a list of at least 6 qualified physician names.
If these conditions are fulfilled, you will be required to seek treatment from a doctor from this list for the first 90 days post your injury. Once this time limit is over, you are free to choose your own doctor for additional treatment.
If the employer has not fulfilled the above-described conditions, you can choose your own doctor in Pennsylvania right after your injury.
Regardless of injury, your employer may also mandate the need for a physical exam by a specified physician, once or twice a year.
Read MoreTemporary Total Disability vs. Permanent Partial Disability
If you have been injured in the Commonwealth of PA, chances are that you are receiving benefits. Below is an explanation of the difference between Temporary Total Disability vs Permanent Partial Disability.
Workers’ Compensation benefits in Pennsylvania are in two parts: wage loss and medical benefits. The wage loss is to pay you at a “Compensation Rate” instead of your regular wage earnings. The compensation rate is calculated off of your past earnings with that employer, based on your gross earnings, called your “Average Weekly Wage”.
Medical Only Benefits
If you suffered a work injury and require some medical treatment, but are capable of still working your pre-injury job, then you will probably receive “Medical Only” benefits. These can come in the form of “Temporary Medical Only” benefits or “Medical Only” benefits that will continue until a Judge orders them to be stopped or you settle your case. If you receive a Notice of Temporary Compensation Payable, medical only, then these benefits will stop after a period of ninety (90) days from the date of the Notice.
Read MoreAvoiding Truck Driver Work Injuries
As one would imagine, the more time spent on the road, the higher the odds of being involved in a traffic accident. The trucking industry is an important one in our country and truck drivers play a key role in it. But there are certain hazards that come with this job that can put the health and safety of drivers at risk the trick is doing what you can to avoid a truck driver work injuries truck driver work injuries.
Collisions and other issues with the job of a truck driver can leave drivers with a host of different injuries and issues that may have long-lasting and even lifetime effects. Some of these may include:
Common Physical Injuries as a Truck Driver:
- Broken bones – These can take weeks or even months to fully heal, and in some situations may require surgery.
- Back injuries – Injuries to the back can lead to long-term chronic pain or even paralysis.
- Concussions – These can have serious consequences and can lead to cognitive issues, vision problems, light and noise sensitivity, dizziness, and memory loss, to name a few.
- Shoulder injuries – These can include rotator cuff tears, either from an accident or from loading and unloading the truck.
- Strains and sprains – These are the most common issues resulting from loading and unloading the truck.
