While the majority of workers’ compensation claims may be the result of a standard case of acute trauma, that’s certainly not the only way that injuries can occur on the job. Workers’ compensation claims are oftentimes classified in different manners based on the underlying mechanism of injury, and in today’s blog, we’re going to take a closer look at five different types of workers’ compensation injury classifications in Minnesota.
Work Injury Classifications
Below, we look at five main classifications of work injuries so that you can better understand if you may have an eligible claim. Here’s a closer look at how work injuries are often classified:
1. Traumatic – As we alluded to in the introduction, a traumatic acute injury is the most common form of work injury across the board. This includes things like injuries suffered during a slip and fall or from being caught up in a moving machine. If you were on the clock and performing regular work duties at the time of the traumatic injury, odds are you have a pretty cut and dry injury claim.
2. Recurrent – A recurrent injury occurs when a previous injury or health condition is made substantially worse by your work duties. For example, let’s say you hurt your shoulder in college, but the repetitive stress of overhead motions on the job led to your shoulder pain returning. Even though the original injury happened outside of work, because your work duties led to worsening or new symptoms, you may be eligible to collect workers’ compensation.
3. Occupational Disease – Some employees work in conditions or facilities that place them at risk of inhaling toxic fumes or coming in contact with dangerous chemicals. If exposure to these hazards eventually leads to a health condition and your lawyer can reasonably make a connection between your work duties and the health issue, you should be able to win a claim. This would also work for a health problem like deafness. If loud working conditions eventually lead to partial deafness, complete deafness or tinnitus, you can seek injury compensation through an occupational disease injury claim.
4. Consequential – A consequential injury, as the name implies, is one that develops as a direct consequence of another injury. For example, let’s say you hurt your ankle at work, and this led you to walk with a limp for an extended period. This change in your gait affected how stress was dispersed in your body, which could cause problems for areas like your knees, hips and back. If a work injury to one area of your body eventually led to a problem in another area, you may be eligible for compensation through a consequential injury claim.
5. Intervening – This is a type of injury that refers to someone who reinjures an area that was originally injured at work. For example, let’s say that you hurt your knee at work and were cleared for surgery. After surgery, you are recovering at home when you slip and split open your surgical scar. Even though the injury happened when you were off the clock, the injury is a direct result of your original work injury and necessary recovery, making this too a compensable injury.
As you can see, there are a number of different ways you can suffer a work injury and earn compensation for these injuries. No matter the cause, the team at Hey Workers is here to help. If you need assistance with any type of personal injury or workers’ compensation claim, or you’re just wondering if you have a valid claim, give our team a call today at (844) 439-9675 for more information.
