The Most Common Reasons for Workers’ Compensation Claims
Worker’s Compensation is a valuable service that helps protect injured employees from financial harm and other issues after sustaining injuries at work. The claims process can be confusing at times, so it’s important to carefully review your employer’s policies surrounding incident reporting, documentation requirements, and the worker’s compensation claims process. You may want to hire an attorney to help you navigate any complications you encounter while processing your claim or to mitigate unjustifiable resistance or adverse responses from your employer.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) oversees the safety standards in American workplaces. OSHA also investigates claims of unsafe working conditions and OSHA code violations. Whenever OSHA receives a claim, it typically launches an investigation to determine the truth behind the matter. Additionally, OSHA conducts regular studies and revises the workplace laws in the United States to protect American workers. OSHA compiles statistics and releases them periodically to report on the trends in American workplace safety.
According to OSHA’s findings and data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, some of the most common causes for filing worker’s compensation include:
- Slips, trips, and falls. Roughly 25% of all workers’ compensation claims result from slip and fall accidents. These are very common injuries that span various industries, but they are most common in construction, distribution, warehousing, and similar fields focused on manual labor and inherently dangerous workplaces – such as incomplete buildings and industrial sites with heavy machinery.
- Struck by object. Just behind slips and falls, incidents of employees struck by objects comprise almost another 25% of all workers’ compensation claims. This can include tools and other objects falling from height and striking employees, employees hit by moving objects, or employees caught in between objects.
- Violence and animal attacks. Roughly 6.5% of workers’ compensation claims result from violence done by other people or animal attacks in the workplace. Some of these incidents are unintentional, and unforeseen animal and insect-related injuries also lead to a significant number of claims.
- Transportation incidents. Just over 5% of workers’ compensation claims result from motor vehicle crashes (typically while employees perform road work or travel for work).
Things You Should Know About Workers’ Compensation
In California, every business with at least one employee must carry workers’ compensation insurance. While employers may not look favorably on processing claims due to eventual increases on their policy premiums, it is illegal for any employer to interfere with an employee’s claim process. Additionally, it is illegal for an employer to take any adverse action against an employee simply for filing workers’ compensation. This is “retaliation” in the legal world and can lead to significant fines and a host of other penalties for employers who engage in retaliatory behaviors, such as:
- Firing or demoting an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim
- Changing an employee’s schedule or job duties in response to a claim
- Giving an employee a low review score for filing a claim
- Creating a hostile work environment for the employee
If you’ve suffered a work-related injury and experienced any of these things at work, it’s imperative that you speak with an attorney as soon as possible and discuss your options for legal recourse. A lawyer can also help you navigate the workers’ compensation claims process and help you handle any other issues that arise from your work-related injury.
Workers’ compensation typically offers reimbursement for lost wages following an injury and coverage for immediate medical expenses, but we often won’t cover the total costs associated with a workplace injury. A lawyer can help you explore other avenues of compensation, such as a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent employer or third party who contributed to your injury.