There may be nothing seemingly dangerous about your job position and its required tasks. Even still, you may notice that you are hurt or even seriously injured while still on the clock. Namely, one type of injury that may silently creep up on you is a repetitive stress injury. Follow along to find out more about this condition and how a proficient Tampa work injury lawyer can help you determine whether this constitutes a workers’ compensation claim.
What is a repetitive stress injury in the workplace?
Put in its simplest terms, a repetitive stress injury is a condition caused by repeating the same motion over and over again. Specifically, doing too much of the same motion may injure the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Further, the symptoms may include pain, tenderness, swelling, stiffness, numbness, or loss of strength in the affected areas. The most commonly recognized form of this condition is carpal tunnel syndrome.
As a specific example, a worker in an office setting may incur a repetitive stress injury if their job requires them to type on a keyboard all day. Or, a worker in a factory setting may suffer this condition if they work at the same station of an assembly line day in and day out. Lastly, a worker on a construction site may experience this if they consistently utilize hand-held, vibrating construction tools.
Does my repetitive stress injury qualify for a workers’ compensation claim?
Under certain conditions, your repetitive stress injury may constitute your filing of a workers’ compensation claim. These conditions are that this injury must have arisen out of, and in the course of, your employment. In other words, it must be directly tied to the tasks you are expected to perform within your job scope. Therefore, you must supplement your claim with abundant evidence that points to these conditions as fact. This may consist of evidence that you saught medical treatment for your condition, evidence that you informed your employer upon discovering your condition, and more.
It is also worth mentioning your eligibility to file a workers’ compensation claim if your specific job duties exacerbated your pre-existing condition, which subsequently worsened into your repetitive stress injury. That is, you may have already filed for and collected workers’ compensation for your pre-existing condition. Even so, you may still file for and collect for your repetitive stress injury. This is so long as you can prove how your injury worsened once you returned to the workforce. Again, this may require you to supply your claim with sufficient proof.
When in doubt, someone at Merricks Law Group, P.A. will look into your case. So please retain the legal services of a talented Hillsborough County personal injury lawyer today.