Seeking Workers’ Comp Benefits For Repetitive Stress Injuries

The average person tends to think of repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) as the domain of office workers, but in reality, RSIs can affect people in many different job positions, and they have the potential to cause real harm. If you have developed an RSI as a result of your job, you do have the right to seek workers’ compensation benefits, though the process may be slightly different than it would be with a one-time injury.

Sometimes Difficult To Establish Causation

A repetitive stress injury is when damage is caused to a body part resulting from repetitive motion. While carpal tunnel syndrome, which affects the wrists and hands, may be one of the most common, there are many other RSIs, and each can affect anyone whose job requires repeated movement. Other examples of RSIs include tendonitis, rotator cuff injuries, and bursitis.

A person is entitled to collect workers’ compensation benefits if they can establish that their RSI has developed due to their work; but unlike with one-time injuries, it can be more difficult to establish that fact. Because RSIs do not only manifest on the job, sometimes employers may allege that an RSI has developed due to an employee’s hobbies or other activities done in their free time, for which an employer is not required to pay workers’ compensation.

Evidence Matters

In order to receive workers’ compensation benefits for a RSI, a worker must be able to show that their job was the “major contributing cause” of their injury; that is, that it is more than 50 percent responsible for what they have suffered. Workers’ compensation coverage can help an injured worker seek treatment, but if their claim is denied, treatment bills can add up.

It is crucial to get ahead of the matter, so to speak, by including enough evidence in one’s initial application for benefits to establish that their work caused their RSI. Medical records and in some cases, expert witness testimony can help establish the truth of an injured worker’s situation, and the right attorney can help increase the odds that a claim will be successful.

Call A Maitland Workers’ Compensation Attorney

Being injured on the job is never a welcome event; developing an RSI, however, can be even worse as an RSI has a higher chance to affect a person’s life in the long term. If you believe that you have developed an RSI as a result of your work, a Maitland workers’ compensation attorney from the Hornsby Law Group can help protect your rights. Call our office today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/0440.09