SPRINGFIELD WORKERS COMPENSATION LAWYER & ATTORNEY
- WORK INJURY
Back & Neck Injury, Wrongful Death,
Stress Claims, Carpal Tunnel, Cubital Tunnel
Springfield & Champaign, Illinois
Preferred Consumer's Match
Illinois Attorney, Lawyer & Law Firms
Experienced workers compensation
law firms providing legal advice & help in various work
injury & accident cases. Below you'll find more information
pertaining to:
Back/Neck Injuries
The most common work-related injuries
involve the spinal cord, or the spine. The spine
consists of three segments, the neck, the back and the
tailbone.
Injuries to the low back often occur while lifting
and may cause a
herniated disk. Symptoms
can include shooting pain down the leg and foot,
numbness and tingling in the foot and toes, spasms and
a great
deal of pain. Injuries to the neck often occur
from falling, pulling, lifting and blows to the head. The
disks
around
the neck may become herniated. Symptoms include
severe headaches, pain in the neck and shoulder and extreme
difficulty turning the head.
Wrongful Death
The
family of a worker killed on the job is entitled to death
benefits under the Worker’s
Compensation Act. In order to qualify, the person
must have been dependent upon the worker for support
and
must be within a specified class of family members.
The amount that a particular survivor receives is based
upon the degree of support that the
worker provided to that beneficiary. The remarriage
of the surviving spouse may cause a premature termination
of the spouse’s benefits.
Carpal/Cubital Tunnel
Carpal tunnel syndrome develops
when a nerve that runs through the wrist gets squeezed
by the bones and muscles in the wrist. Common symptoms
are numbness and tingling in part of the hand, including
the palm and the small and ring fingers, loss of sensation
and decreased grip strength. The symptoms are often worse
while asleep. Cubital tunnel syndrome is the same type
of problem in the elbow. Surgery is a possibility to
treat either condition.
Carpal and
Cubital can develop in a work setting due to repetitive
motions, meaning the same movement of the arm or hand
over and over, several hours a day, several days a week.
Specific contributory activities include typing, jack-hammering,
meat cutting and similar motions performed on an assembly
line. In addition, hobbies such as knitting, sewing,
and carpentry work may contribute. Pregnancy and diabetes
are thought to contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Stress Claims
We live in a very economically
competitive world. Employers try and get more and
more work out of each employee, pushing them harder
and
harder. The push may be physical- lift more weight with
each
lift and lift it more often. It may be mental- I
want that report on my desk yesterday. I don’t
care if you have to work all night on it. It may come
from
co-workers or customers, clients or students. Harassment,
intimidation, fear, deadlines, dangerous work, high
production quotas, pushed to the limits.
The Workman’s
Compensation Act entitles workers to benefits for
physical injuries that cause mental or psychological
injury
(one common example is Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
due
to being assaulted). The Act compensates for work-related
stress (physical or mental) that leads to physical
injury (such as a heart attack due to over exertion
or a heart
attack due to extreme job-connected production demands).
Finally, a worker can be compensated if extreme and
unusual mental stress causes psychological injury.
Payment of Benefit Checks and Medical
Bills
Every
employee who suffers an injury covered by the Worker’s
Compensation Act is entitled to compensation while recovering
from the effects of
the injury (known as temporary total disability, or
TTD). The employer becomes liable for TTD after the
worker
has been off work for more than three days. The benefits
are based upon 2/3 of the average weekly wage. The
employer is also liable to pay all reasonable and necessary
medical
bills.
Upon completing treatment and returning
to work, the employee is entitled to a sum of money
to compensate for the lasting effects of the injury (permanency).
All these amounts are awarded through, or approved
by,
the Illinois Industrial Commission.
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