The Hidden Cost of the Flu: Costly Workplace Accidents

This flu season has already claimed the lives of 20 children.  Hospitals are overcrowded with patients seeking treatment and are turning people away in droves. The media has dubbed this an epidemic, encouraging people to get vaccinated, especially if they happen to be in a high risk group.  But what of the hidden costs to business, the workplace injuries that are the result of workers who are weak, who trudge to work because they can't afford to stay home and rest?  These workers are not dying of the flu.  But they could be at risk for traumatic injuries as a result of their flu.  They could be putting other coworkers at risk for traumatic injuries as the result of careless mistakes and negligent behavior. 

Being Sick Can Cause Workplace Injuries

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that flu season costs businesses an estimated $10.4 billion in direct healthcare costs each year.  But that does not take into account lingering injuries as a result of accidents on the job.  

Workplace accidents are sometimes unavoidable realities.  Despite a worker's intention to pay attention and to carefully perform their job, sometimes accidents can happen.  When workers are sick with the flu, they can make careless mistakes because their mind and body are tired, or because they may be under the influence of a drowsy antihistamine or other medication. These accidents can cause the following injuries to workers:

• traumatic brain injury
• spinal cord injury
• back and neck injury
• knee injuries
• broken bones
• soft tissue damage
• concussions
• hearing loss
• blindness
• severed limbs
• paraplegia
• quadriplegia
• amputation
• death

According to the American Journal of Public Health, 1 in 3 American workers does not have paid sick days available.  This lack of sick days causes workers to go to work, whether they are sick, tired, stressed, and other conditions.  These people often cannot afford to take a day off because they are sick and this may cause an accident.  

If You've Suffered a Workplace Accident

All businesses are required to have Worker's Compensation insurance, which protects companies from being sued by the worker for their injuries.  Instead, the state maintains a worker's compensation fund that is intended to provide for employees' injuries. If you have suffered a workplace accident, you have rights.  And you may be able to collect compensation for your injuries.  You should seek out the advice of a skilled worker's compensation and personal injury attorney to help you navigate the complicated system of collecting worker's compensation for your injuries.  If you attempt to file the paperwork and collect on your own, there's a very real possibility that you can be denied money you desperately need for medical bills, or that you could receive pennies on the dollar for your injuries.  Call a skilled worker's compensation attorney today for the help you deserve. 

Study: Insomnia Linked to $31 Billion in Workplace Errors

New Study Links $31 Billion in Workplace Errors to Insomnia

Every Monday morning, I watch people shuffle in with that familiar sleepy glaze in their eye.  We’ve all had it happen once in a while where you come to work and you’re still sleepy from the night before.  With the rising summer temperatures, excessive noise from neighbors, and a host of other irritants, sometimes sleep is elusive.  We all show up to work because we want to get paid, but sometimes, it appears it would have paid to stay home instead.

A new study by Harvard’s Medical School in Boston concludes that insomnia is responsible for approximately 274,000 workplace accidents per year at the cost of an extra $31 billion.  In 2008 and 2009, researchers interviewed over 10,000 people to determine how sleeplessness affects their job performance.

Is it Cheaper to Treat Employees for Insomnia

If workplace errors and accidents cost roughly $31 billion extra, would it behoove employers to pay to treat workers’ insomnia instead?

"You can feed them sleeping tablets -- this works in the short term -- but then it goes bad, creating drug-dependent patients who get little benefit from their drugs," said Kevin Morgan, director of Loughborough University's Clinical Sleep Research Unit, in Leicestershire, England.  "Ironically, you then have to invest in withdrawal programs to get them off drugs, only to find that the insomnia -- which was there all the time -- returns."

A more effective and longer lasting treatment could be cognitive behavioral therapy, which Morgan estimates works 60 to 70% of the time.  But until employers are willing to invest in new therapeutic treatments, they may want to invest in some simple solutions such as appropriate signage, safety gear, and training classes.

If You’ve Suffered a Workplace Accident

If you’ve suffered a workplace accident, you should first and foremost, get checked out by a physician. You may have serious or long lasting injuries which could potentially get worse if you neglect to check it out.

If this workplace accident was the result of someone else’s negligence or carelessness, whether they suffered from insomnia or not, you may want to talk to an attorney.

 

 

WORKERS COMPENSATION: AN OVERVIEW

Every place of employment should be covered by workers' compensation. Workers compensation helps cover the costs of medical bills and damages if an employee is injured on the job.

If you've suffered a work-related accident, you may be eligible to file a claim. Contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney to discuss your case.

What injuries are covered?

Works’ compensation covers a variety of injuries. If you were involved in an accident at work and suffered complications as a result, you should be able to claim workers' compensation. Work-related injuries include those that require immediate attention, but the term also encompasses those types of injuries that develop over a period of time.

Some of these injuries include: 

• Physical stress 
• Carpel tunnel syndrome   
• Leg problems
• Heart disease
• Stress
• Hypertension
• Lung damage due to toxic vapors and chemical exposure
• Spinal cord injury
• Head injury
• Eye injury
• Burn injury
• Amputation
• Brain injury

What to do if you’ve been injured at work

After a work injury, the list of issues may seem infinite. It is always best to seek advice from a work injury attorney to receive maximum compensation for your pain and suffering. You may be eligible for a claim, but you must add quickly before any deadlines pass you buy.

What happens if our insurance company refuses to cover your claim?

Despite that all employers are required to have insurance for their employees, difficulties may arise in any work injury. The complexity of workers’ compensation law makes it difficult to determine if you are eligible.

Nevertheless, it is paramount that you receive fair compensation for your pain and suffering. Contacting a workers’ compensation lawyer will get you the treatment you deserve. 

It is difficult to determine whether or not you are eligible for compensation until you have spoken to an attorney. Make sure to speak to one as soon as possible so that you miss no deadlines and lessen the stress of the ordeal. Call an attorney to discuss your case.

Workplace Accidents

In California is against the law for a business to operate without workers compensation insurance. In the 1900s states passed workers compensation laws that prevented employees suing their employer for workplace accidents. These laws were passed to help protect the employees, nevertheless some are protecting the employer. The California Workers Compensation system will look after the employee to get monetary compensation to the injured worker for any permanent injury and or permanent disability.

It’s a given, that at any time an employee will get injured at the workplace. Employers need to provide their employees a safe workplace to prevent workplace accidents. Workplace accidents need to reported immediately to your employer. Employers, thru their workers compensation insurance will provide medical treatment for the injured worker.

Regardless of severity of the work injury, you will need someone on your side.  Understanding legal/medical terms will be a challenge, our workplace injury attorneys are specially trained and will be able to make this tragic situation easier for the injured worker.   Has your employer deny medical treatment? Don’t let this stop you from pursuing your rights to medical treatment for a workplace accident. Contact our office to have a specialized workplace injury attorney/lawyer help your thru hard times like these.