Redding Workers’ Compensation Law Blog

Repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) develop slowly, over time. Quite often, they’re work-related injuries that are directly tied to the motions a worker has to make over and over again to do their job. Once an RSI develops, it can be quite debilitating. That’s why it is so important to seek medical care for a suspected RSI as soon as you develop any kind of symptoms. What Causes Repetitive Stress Injuries? There are dozens of activities that could lead to repetitive stress injuries, such as: Lifting objects into place Moving your hands and arms above your shoulders Assembling products with similar movements Typing all day Using a computer mouse Sitting in a stationary position Climbing ladders These actions could lead to...

Scenario: You suffered an on-the-job back injury that required medical treatment and time away from work. You took all the proper steps and followed the California workers’ compensation regulations. Soon, your condition improved, and your claim was resolved. Unfortunately, a year later, your back injury resurfaces, and now you are suffering from pain and reduced mobility. What can you do? Reopen your claim? Open up a new case? Live with your work injury without seeking additional workers’ compensation benefits? Reopening A Claim May Be Possible When job injuries and disabilities resurface or worsen, you may be able to reopen your workers’ compensation claim. Injured workers in California have five years to reopen a claim. These five years start on the date...

There is a popular saying that accidents happen. The idea is that people sometimes wind up in circumstances over which they have no control and for which they have no personal responsibility. While that may be true, many times the events that people refer to as accidents are clearly the fault of one person. Someone texting at the wheel and not watching the road around them could T-Bone another driver because they don’t notice the changing traffic signals. A chef working in a high-pressure kitchen environment could suffer a severe cut that they cause by moving their hands the wrong way while chopping. Someone in a factory could make a mistake while lifting that leads to a back injury or...

As you know, workers’ compensation helps employees obtain medical care and replace their lost wages when workplace injuries occur. Some injuries are relatively easy to prove because they are the result of specific events. For example, it is easy to show how falling and breaking your arm occurred while performing your work duties. Continuous or cumulative trauma injuries are more elusive when it comes to proof. These injuries develop over time, making it hard for the worker and a doctor to prove the injury is work-related. Types Of Cumulative Workplace Injuries If you repeat the same motions regularly while working, cumulative injuries may arise. Office workers often suffer these injuries because they type every day or perform other repetitive movements....

You fall from a ladder at work and break your arm. You’re not even a doctor, and you know full well that it’s broken. You assume you can work with any doctor to come to that same conclusion, but you’ve heard that you may need to seek out a qualified medical examiner (QME). What sets this person apart from any other urgent care doctor or primary physician? Are There Questions About Your Injury? Per the California Department of Industrial Relations, the QME is someone who may give an evaluation “when there are questions about what benefits you should receive.” This is someone who partakes in ongoing education and has passed specific tests to qualify for work in this field. They...

Look around yourself at work. How many of your co-workers seem to be bleary-eyed and half-asleep on the job? If you find some who fit that description, you’re far from alone. The Oregon Healthy Workforce Center hired Colorado State University (CSU) researchers to review incident reports and interview construction workers between two different work sites in 2019. The CSU graduate students’ research revealed how much of an impact sleep has on worker safety. What The Researchers Found About Fatigue And Workplace Safety CSU’s researchers reviewed injury records and comparing those to the construction workers’ self-reported sleep data. This research called attention to how many construction workers suffer from insomnia or struggle with poor-quality sleep. These issues often cause cognitive impairments which led...

When you have a workplace injury, the process of obtaining workers’ compensation benefits should be rather simple. All bets are off, however, when you have previous injuries (on or off the job) or pre-existing health problems that are even remotely related to your current injury. Why Do Pre-existing Conditions And Old Injuries Matter To A Workers’ Comp Claim? If your work activity caused an aggravation of an old injury, a brand-new injury in the same location as an old injury or aggravated a pre-existing condition, you are still entitled to coverage under workers’ compensation. The trick, however, is proving that your injury is actually work-related. If you’re left with a permanent impairment, you can bet that your employer’s insurance company...

State laws require that employers carry workers’ compensation coverage. There are also state and federal laws that carefully regulate the insurance industry to help ensure that people with appropriate and covered claims don’t wind up denied necessary benefits. Unfortunately, there are still many people who need workers’ compensation but wind up receiving a denial notice when they file a claim. Although California does allow workers denied benefits to appeal, that process can be stressful. Some people who make mistakes in their initial application or reporting process may find that they have effectively lost the right to claim benefits or will need to do much more work to receive their benefits. Understanding the timeline for your obligations as an injured worker...

Workplace injuries are often tied to devices, machines, tools and vehicles. Drivers face high risks due to car accidents, for instance, while construction workers have elevated risks from power tools, blades, ladders, heights and much more. But it’s not always what you work with that puts you in danger. Sometimes, it’s the environment where you work that creates the biggest hazard. The weather itself can cause serious workplace injuries. The Weather Poses Workplace Risks In All Seasons There are risks in all seasons and all areas of the state. While California is generally a very warm state, you do have cold temperatures, especially in the north and the mountains. Extremely cold temperatures have led to numerous deaths and injuries over the years....

A summary rating is a document provided to you by the Disability Evaluation Unit in California. This document takes the qualified medical evaluator’s examination and report and converts it to a permanent disability rating for workers’ comp. The percentage score given to you determines how much compensation you will receive. Ratings from 1% to 100% are possible, with a score below 100 meaning that you have a permanent partial disability. Ratings of 100% extremely rare. How Is The Summary Rating Determined? According to the Department of Industrial Relations, the summary rating is determined by considering: The date of the injury Your medical condition How old you were when you were injured How much of this disability is a result of your job...