Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer - Workplace Injuries

Injury claims and on the job injuries

Don Jacobs — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:06:58 GMT

Most people are aware that any injury on the job is covered by workers compensation. The right to have your medical bills and wages paid and the amounts paid for each are set by statue in every state. Workers compensation systems are referred to as “no fault” systems, meaning it doesn’t matter who caused the injury, everyone is covered. In exchange for everyone being covered and supposedly speedy payment of set benefits, workers give up the right to make any claim for injury against their employer. The rule prohibits claims against fellow employees as well. If you are injured by a fellow employee or your boss, even if due to an act of carelessness, you give up your right to sue by being covered under workers compensation. The only exception is an intentional injury. In other words, you still have the right to sue if your boss of co-worker deliberately caused your injury. The exception essentially requires the act to rise to the level of an assault. Sometimes however, injuries are caused by someone not in the employ of your company. Construction sites are a place where this commonly occurs. Anytime employees from several different companies are working in the same location, the lack of abiding by certain safety rules by one company can cause injury to the employees of another. When this occurs, the injured worker still is entitled to have his injury covered under workers compensation. In addition however, he or she is entitled to ask the other employer to compensate him or her for the many things workers compensation just doesn’t cover. Things like damages for loss of future ability to earn; pain and suffering, disruption of life or permanent damage to someone’s health are all items of damage not covered under workers compensation. In these situations, the injured worker would benefit from finding out what his or her rights are with regards to compensation from the other company. Making an injury claim against the other company will do nothing to harm your right to collect full workers compensation benefits. If you collect any damages from the other employer however, you do have to reimburse your workers compensation department for the benefits they paid. Making a claim against another company for your injury also benefits your employer. If the workers compensation department is reimbursed out of any settlement you receive, your employer benefits by having his workers compensation rates lowered.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Extra compensation for injuries on the job

Don Jacobs — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:43:00 GMT

Oregon and Washington both have statutorily defined workers compensation benefits. If injured on the job in either state, an injured worker is entitled to these benefits. Medical bills, wage loss, retraining and a permanent partial disability award are common examples. Workers compensation coverage is true “no fault” insurance. Meaning, you don’t have to prove anyone did anything wrong to recover. A worker can essentially trip over their shoelaces to become injured. They are still entitled to benefits. What if the employer did something negligent that caused the injury to occur? Can a separate suit be started against the employer? Usually not. Suits against the company are almost always barred by state immunity laws. If a worker is covered under workers compensation an employer can violate all sorts of industrial safety rules and still be immune from any suit brought by an employee. In order to get around this immunity rule a worker must show the act committed by the employer almost rose to the level of a criminal assault. Only an injury that was intentionally caused by an employer allows a worker to file suit. There are however, times when an injury on the job entitles the worker to more than just workers compensation benefits. Suits referred to as “third party actions” typically allow injured workers to recover workers compensation benefits and still file a claim against a “third party”. The classic example of a “third party” is an employee from another company who does some negligent act injuring someone at the job site. These types of cases often arise at construction sites, where employees from several companies are working in close proximity. Another example is a member of the public coming onto the worksite and creating some mishap injuring a worker. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a “third party” is involved. When any “third party” is responsible for a worker’s injury, the entitlement to workers compensation benefits is precisely the same as if a fellow employee caused the accident. The injured worker gets his benefits just as fast either way. Unfortunately, these benefits do not pay any compensation for pain and suffering. Nor do they pay any compensation for how the injury affected someone’s health or their ability to enjoy everyday activities. Wage loss benefits are also less than what the worker was actually paid while working. Finally, the workers compensation benefits for retraining are woefully inadequate. Many states do not even require the injured worker be retrained into a similar paying job. This is why it is important to determine if any “third party” was responsible for any work site injury. If they are, an injured worker would be wise to exercise his or her rights to seek more than just the workmen compensation benefits available.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Jacobs

Construction Worker Killed In Fall Down Elevator Shaft

Chrissie Cole — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 22:19:18 GMT

A construction worker, 40, of Plainfield, was killed in a construction accident after falling eleven stories down an elevator shaft at a Loop construction site, Saturday morning.

The worker was working on renovations of a downtown office located on the 11th floor of the building, according to Chicago police. He stepped into the dimly lit rear freight elevator attempting to go down, but the elevator was on the ground floor and he fell down the shaft.

He suffered massive injuries in the fall and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police are investigating how he was able to enter the shaft while the elevator was on another floor. The 18-story building was built in 1927 and served as the home of the Chicago Sun until 1958. It is undergoing renovation in a conversion from a rental property to office condominiums.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole