Repetitive Trauma Injuries

It used to be that a worker who sustained an injury had to be specific down to the exact moment of when the accident occurred at his place of employment, in order to seek help from Workers Compensation. For a repetitive trauma injury, or cumulative trauma injury as it is also commonly referred to, there is no exact moment of injury. It is the repetition of stresses that the employee physically has to endure at work that has caused the injury, and it may take years to develop into an injury debilitating enough as to make the employee no longer physically able to perform his duties.

Consider two workers who have done the same job for twenty years. Both have to do a repetitive movement every single working day several times per day that puts quite a bit of stress on their right wrists. Worker “A” falls off of a ladder that had a broken rung and breaks his arm on a specific date at a specific time. Worker “B” started to get pain in his right wrist a few years ago. Worker A is off work recovering from his broken arm while worker B decides to try and pick up the pace to handle the extra workload.

Worker B has taken over-the-counter medications for the pain in his right wrist, but now it is getting worse. The Ibuprofen and medicated creams are no longer relieving the pain. He’s even seen a physician about the pain. The physician has advised him of damage to various parts of the wrist. Worker B reaches a point that he can no longer take the pain that the repetitive movement at work is causing. He reports his work-related injury to management.

In time past, worker B may have been in an area of Workers Compensation law where no help would be forthcoming. However, due to many legal precedents established over the years involving such repetitive trauma claims, there is help. There is little hope for the layman to be able to navigate the labyrinth of Workers Compensation law. The simple question of when did the injury actually occur is one. Did it happen when worker B noticed the pain a few years ago, when the physician advised of damage, or when he could no longer do the work? So in this instance, what would worker B now do about the statute of limitations of reporting a work related injury within a specific time frame?

This is why expert advice needs to be sought. This is exactly why the Law Offices of Jonathan Brand is here. We know the law. We know everything that can be legally done to help worker B with his claim, and we know how to help you too. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by contacting an expert at the Law Offices of Jonathan Brand. Call us or contact us online through our website now before it is too late.