What Does a Claimable Work Injury Entail?

If you have recently been injured while at work, you may be wondering if the injury will be covered by your worker’s compensation policy. Here are the basics on what is and what is not a claimable workplace injury.

Injuries Not Covered with Workers Comp

In general, if your injury was able to be treated with the first aid kid, the injury is not claimable. Further, if your injury was sustained during your commute, lunch break, or other work breaks, the injury is typically not claimable since you are not performing the duties of your job at these times.

Claimable Injuries

An injury sustained while performing the duties of your job, beyond those that are remedied by a first aid kit, are able to be claimed most of the time. For example, if you are involved in a car accident while driving to a customer or as part of a job assignment, your accident injuries may be claimable depending on the severity.

Injuries resulted from repetitive duties are often claimable as well, such as carpal tunnel, neck and back injuries, headaches from chemical exposure, and more. An injury that is sustained over the course of time through repetition of a duty are referred to as cumulative event injuries. These are injuries that may be slow in progressing, but result from overuse or overexposure.

Mental health conditions are sometimes able to be claimed as a workplace injury as well. Most insurances will recognized PTSD resulting from a workplace incident as a claimable injury.

Talking to an experienced workplace injury attorney can help you decide if you have a claimable injury. They can then help you sort out your case, so you have a better chance of winning.

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