Everyone knows that workplace injuries happen, but are you aware of how common they are? The numbers may surprise you. For example, an employee gets hurt on the job every seven seconds.
Occupational injuries are far too common in the United States. All of these injuries are preventable but still occur. It is helpful to understand the data about occupational incidents so you can inform yourself and be safer.
When it comes to workplace injuries, some occupations in North Carolina are much more hazardous than others. If you work in one of these high-risk jobs, you should be aware of the potential for injury so you can take extra precautions to keep yourself safe.
Here are the jobs with the most frequent rates of workplace injury in North Carolina. The state's Industrial Commission offers protection to workers through the state workers' compensation benefits program.
Sustaining an injury at work is naturally a fearful event. In that moment, you may not know what your future is going to look like. What is the extent of the injury? How long will it take to recover, or is full recovery not a possibility? Will you be able to work again?
It may take time to answer these questions, but they are important to answer because they affect the type of workers' compensation claim you can file. Different classifications for injuries exist, and each comes with its own benefits to help pay for medical bills and lost wages.
If this is the first time you are filing a workers' comp claim for an on-the-job injury in North Carolina, you may not expect the stressful process of claiming workers' compensation. An insurance representative or an attorney from your company may try to pressure you into signing a North Carolina Workers’ Comp Settlement. It sounds like an excellent way to end the bureaucratic stress, but you stand to lose important rights. Once you sign, you cannot recover compensation if future complications arise from your injury.
When you are in pain, it is hard to educate yourself about worker's comp, make decisions about medical care and fight your way through the inevitable maze of paperwork. Work-related injuries can cause you significant distress as you worry about how to pay your bills and whether you can work again.
Working as an electrician can be tough. Even if you receive sufficient training and are the most skillful electrician in the world, your job can still be challenging and unsafe.
Here is a look at 2016 injury and fatality statistics for electricians:
You may already know that getting into an accident on the job makes you eligible for filing a workers' compensation claim, even if you were responsible. You may also know that sustaining an injury in other areas of life, such as a motor vehicle accident, may warrant a personal injury lawsuit. But did you know that in some cases you can pursue both?
The two situations may not seem related to each other, but when third parties are involved in a workplace accident, two avenues of financial compensation become available to you. Here is how this is possible.
Workplace injuries are far too common. Whether you get hurt by an equipment failure, suffer a slip-and-fall accident or develop an illness due to an unhealthy work environment, you may wonder what you should do next. An occupational accident should not financially devastate you or cause you to have to sacrifice your career.
You may be able to win a workers' compensation claim or lawsuit against your employer. However, you must be mindful to not make mistakes that could hurt your chances. Here are some examples of costly workers' compensation mistakes:
Nobody wants to get hurt when they are simply trying to make a living and get work done. When a workplace injury occurs, this may be the situation you are dealing with. Hearing of such stories is not surprising when the job in question is known to be high-risk. It is more surprising when you hear of injuries involving jobs you may consider to generally be safe.
There are many occupations, that are far riskier than they appear. Every job has its risks, and you should get medical treatment for any kind of worksite injury. The following are three examples of occupations that may actually expose workers to considerable risk of injury despite seeming safe.
When you think about dangerous jobs, you may picture loggers, construction workers, taxi drivers and others who face clear, obvious risks every time they clock in for the work day. Workers in these professions may run the risk of suffering broken bones, cuts and lacerations and other potentially serious injuries. However, there is a far more widespread work-related injury that is affecting people in many industries, including those that may not seem inherently dangerous: hearing loss.
According to USA Today, hearing loss is now the single-most-common work injury affecting American workers across all industries, with about 22 million Americans facing dangerous levels of noise exposure every year. In fact, hearing loss has become so common among American workers that it now costs employers about $242 million every year in workers’ compensation costs.
When you suffer an injury on the job, it is important to report it as soon as possible to your employer. Not doing so could hinder your chances to receive workers' compensation benefits, which are crucial for paying your medical bills and other expenses, such as lost wages, that result from your on-the-job injury.
However, some employees actually avoid filing a workers' compensation claim. There are several reasons for this, but it usually goes back to fear of employer retaliation. Here is some more information about why employees may avoid filing a claim after sustaining an on-the-job injury, and reasons why their reasoning may not be accurate:
Contact our North Carolina law firm by email or at 910-591-2551 to schedule a free consultation with a Fayetteville or Dunn attorney for worker's compensation, personal injury or Social Security Disability. We only get paid if you choose to retain us and we successfully recover compensation for you.
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Parker & Frey PLLC
600 West Cumberland Street
Dunn,
NC
28334
Toll Free:
800-231-8707
Phone:
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Fax:
910-892-0553
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2919 Breezewood Ave
Suite 200B
Fayetteville,
NC
28303
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Phone:
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Fax:
910-892-0553
Fayetteville Law Office Map
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Clinton,
NC
28328
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