Re-injurying yourself on the job is an incredibly difficult process to go through. After rehabbing through several months, you find yourself again, at home and unable to work.
Worker’s compensation was there for you the first time and it helped you cover your medical bills and you were able to pay off your mortgage or pay your rent. But what about this time?
Well if you re-injure the same body part, there are several questions you need to ask yourself:
- Was it your work that caused a re-injury?
- Is it your previous injury re-surfacing?
- Can you prove that your work was the main factor in what caused the new injury or re-injury?
- Who is liable?
Was it your work that caused a re-injury?
This question is important because it will help determine if a new claim needs to be filed or not. If you truly re-injured yourself, a new claim will have to be filed for compensation.
Is your previous injury re-surfacing?
If it is your old injury re-surfacing itself (it wasn’t healed properly before you went back to work), you are eligible to claim benefits and treatment off your original injury claim.
Other issues about your claim include:
- Are your benefits from your original injury able to be attributed to your re-injury?
- Have you filed a claim, settled the original claim or still within the time allowed for filing a claim?
Can you prove it was your work that was the main reason for your injury?
This is a major question as it will determine whether you are eligible for workers’ compensation or not. If you didn’t suffer an injury on the job, you aren’t eligible for workers’ compensation. Therefore, being able to prove that is very important.
For the most part, your employer will restrict the amount of work you can do when you come back on the job for a work-related injury. If a doctor clears you for handling a certain amount of workload and your employer allows you to do so, they are most likely responsible for any type of re-injury.
Who is liable?
If you slip and fall because of a mess from a coworker that didn’t clean up after themselves, you can easily prove that you are not liable. If you injure yourself from a mess because you didn’t clean it up and your business has documented that they told you to, it is possible they have saved themselves from being liable.
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If you or someone you know has suffered a workplace injury or re-injury, it is time to apply for workers’ compensation benefits. If you need to determine whether or not you need to file a new claim or pursue benefits on an existing workers’ compensation claim, you need to contact Gutglass, Erickson, Bonville & Larson today at (414) 273-1144.
