When you get hurt at work, you’re in a position to claim workers’ compensation. This is the compensation that is designed to help cover medical bills and lost wages while you’re unable to work. How likely is it that you’ll be hurt, though?
Workplace injuries are fairly common. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 4,383 workers in the United Stated died while working due to occupational injuries. On top of that number of fatally injured workers, it’s estimated that 3.8 million workers were injured that same year. The number of deaths may not be accurate, either, as workplace illnesses are hard to calculate. The CDC estimates that around 49,000 deaths are due to work-related illnesses.
Workplace injuries cost the United States around $192 billion each year, including lost wages, direct medical costs and lost productivity. If you’ve been injured, this is where you’re going to be seeing your finances impacted. As someone unable to work, you may claim disability benefits, for instance, which is added into the CDC’s overall annual costs for worker injuries and deaths.
Between hospitalizations, lost work days and poor productivity due to injuries and illnesses, traumatic workplace injuries have a major impact on everyone’s lives in the United States. As someone suffering from an injury, it’s your right to seek out the care you need and to have the benefits you deserve paid out to you. Your attorney can help you if you need assistance making a claim or appealing a denied claim through the workers’ compensation department. Your health needs to come first, and this compensation can help you get the best care.
Source: NIOSH, “Traumatic Occupational Injuries,” accessed Dec. 22, 2015