When most people think of worker’s compensation, they think of a construction worker hurt in an accident or a factory worker hurt by some piece of complicated machinery. Most people don’t think of some office worker that spends most of their time in a cubicle. This is why work-related injuries that happen in offices go woefully unreported. Office workers often don’t file claims or seek out worker’s compensation lawyers to review their options. They instead go to the doctor and pay the medical bills out of pocket purely because there is a strange misconception that office workers somehow don’t have a right to compensation for injuries that occur at work like every other worker under the sun.
Types of Office Injuries That Qualify For Worker’s Compensation
Office injuries aren’t common, but they do happen. When they do happen, workers often aren’t informed that they should file a worker’s compensation claim unless it is very serious. However, there are a number of common injuries that, if they require only minor treatment and recovery time, can qualify for worker’s compensation coverage.
- Falls – This is, by far, the most common office injury and it is also the most dangerous one. Some falls may result in a skinned knee, but other falls can leave you disabled for a lifetime. While other work environments may be more dangerous, officer workers are almost twice as likely to be injured by a fall then other professions. Office workers can slip on a wet floor, fall off a chair while getting something high off a shelf, or trip over any number office clutter. Any fall incident can lead to serious injury.
- Object Strikes – Falls aren’t the only injuries that can result from trying to get things off high shelves. Often the act of trying to get something down can result in objects falling and striking office workers in the head. The heavier the object, the more devastating the injury can be.
- Noise Injuries – Some office workers often have their offices just a few feet away from noisy manufacturing areas. While laborers on the manufacturing floor are privileged to ear protection, office workers are not afforded the same curtsey. Loud noises for even a short amount of time without protection can lead to long-term hearing damage.
- Back Injuries – Office workers don’t lift many heavy things every day like other industries, but they do engage in the occasional bout of heavy lifting and aren’t taught proper techniques or given the equipment to help. It only takes one improperly lifted object to cause a painful back injury like a herniated disc, sprain, or strain.
- Repetitive Stress Injuries – Repetitive stress injuries, like those that come from typing every day or performing any other task daily, are often difficult to prove for worker’s compensation unless the injury is long documented before it became debilitating. The unfortunate reality is that many claims adjusters will try to suggest that repetitive stress injuries were caused by outside of work activities. For this reason, you need to have documentation from a doctor as well as inform your boss when the pain begins in order to easier prove that it happened from work-related activities.
Each and every injury above can range from mild to serious for office workers, but each injury can and should be covered by a worker’s compensation claim filed with your employer. However, like any other worker, office workers will need to have representation to assure that they get a fair worker’s compensation settlement. For injured workers in the Minneapolis area, contact us today. The Meshbesher Law Firm is dedicated to protecting all injured workers whether they work on an assembly line or in a cubicle.
