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Workers’ Compensation

The Help You Need For On-The-Job Injuries

If you were injured while at work, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy is responsible for paying medical bills related to the injury and paying a percentage of your average weekly wage. If a worker’s job-related injury or illness results in death, then certain survivors, including a spouse and/or dependents, may have the right to receive death benefits through workers’ compensation.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits · Job-Related Injuries
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In many cases, an injured worker can return to the same job after healing. In other cases, however, significant injuries can cause long-term and permanent restrictions or limitations on what the employee can do. The employee may be eligible for workers’ compensation benefits and for retraining for a new job. This retraining is called vocational rehab.

The personal injury attorneys at Ellis Law Offices in Worcester, Massachusetts, can help you understand your workers’ compensation rights and, if necessary, help you protect those rights.

Workers’ Compensation Covers Many Types Of Workplace Injuries

A one-incident, sudden traumatic injury is from a single occurrence such as falling off a roof or lifting a heavy object. The exact date and time are known. Examples of such injuries include:

  • Head injuries
  • Neck and back injuries
  • Disk and vertebral injuries
  • Paralysis, paraplegia, quadriplegia
  • Fractured bones
  • Joint, ligament, tendon injuries
  • Nerve injuries
  • Loss of limb
  • Hearing loss
  • Burns, scars, disfigurement
  • Heart attack
  • Fatal accidents, wrongful death
  • Murder or assaults at place of employment while on the job

Repetitive stress injuries develop over time rather than all at once. There is no single event that caused the injury. Such repetitive stress injuries can be compensated under workers’ compensation. Examples include:

  • An employee worked for 15 years at a computer keyboard and has developed carpal tunnel syndrome (nerve damage).
  • After years of heavy lifting on the job and countless small traumas rather than one catastrophic one, an employee developed a serious back injury.

Occupational disease and exposure injuries are caused or significantly contributed to by job conditions. There are two types of causes:

  • Immediate onset: Some exposure to toxic chemicals can occur in one instance and rapidly develop into an illness. Such rapid exposure to toxic chemicals can cause nerve damage throughout the body, severe and sudden damage to lung tissue, and as well as damage to other internal organs. The results can be catastrophic. This type of exposure illness is covered by workers’ compensation.
  • Long-term exposure: In mostthe majority of cases, exposure to hazardous substances, particles or toxic chemicals can occur over many years. The diagnosis may come years after the employee left the occupational setting. Often, the diagnosed injuries include asthma or other lung injuries or diseases such as cancer. Asbestos exposure can cause cancers known as asbestosis or mesothelioma. Another common disease that is caused by chemical, gas or particle exposure is COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is caused by noxious particles or gas that triggers an abnormal inflammatory response in the lungs. This inflammation can cause the destruction of lung tissue. The result is are often chronic shortness of breath that is often not reversible. These types of exposure illnesses are covered under workers’ compensation.

It is essential to have a physician with expertise in evaluating workplace exposure injuries.

Free Consultation · We Don’t Get Paid Unless You Recover Compensation

Ellis Law Offices has been a powerful advocate for injured workers since 1963. We have built a strong reputation in the insurance industry for aggressively representing injured workers and getting the results they deserve. Contact an attorney for a free consultation about workers’ compensation.