Individuals can sustain hernias in a wide variety of ways, often due to lifting or handling heavy objects. When a person sustains a hernia as a result of on-the-job activities, they should be able to recover compensation for their medical bills and a portion of their lost wages. Here, our local workers’ compensation attorneys want to discuss the process of filing a workers’ compensation claim after sustaining a hernia in the workplace.

When to File a Workers’ Comp Claim in Illinois

The post Hernia Workers’ Comp Settlements and Claims appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Sustaining an injury in the workplace can lead to significant pain and suffering as well as financial setbacks. This is particularly true for back injuries that can affect just about every aspect of your daily life. Here, we want to discuss how you should handle a back injury at the workplace. Our Chicago workers’ comp lawyers want to cover reporting requirements as well as the steps that you can take to ensure that you recover maximum compensation for your injury.

1. Report the Injury Immediately

The post How to Handle a Back Injury at the Workplace appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Workplace accidents are not uncommon in and around the Chicago area. However, industrial accidents that occur inside of factories often result in severe injuries that lead to significant time away from work for the victim. Here, we want to discuss the most common types of factory accidents that can occur as well as steps that individuals can take to recover the compensation they are entitled to in these situations.

How Common Are Factory Work Injuries?

The post Common Types of Factory Accidents appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Work injuries occur all the time in and around the Chicago area. The reality is that no workplace is going to be 100% safe for an employee. The good news is that most people who sustain an on-the-job injury in Illinois should be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

But what happens if a person has a pre-existing condition and then sustains a workplace injury? Will they still be able to recover compensation through the workers’ comp system?

The post Can a Pre-Existing Condition Affect My Workers Compensation Claim? appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Workers’ compensation insurance is available to anyone who sustains an injury while they are at work or performing their work-related duties. When most people think of workers’ compensation, they think of specific sudden-onset traumas such as broken bones, head injuries, lacerations, etc.

However, there are various other types of injuries that could also qualify an employee for workers’ compensation benefits. In Illinois, this could include compensation for work-related anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but only under certain circumstances.

The post Can You Receive Workers’ Comp for Anxiety or Stress in Illinois? appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Trench collapse deaths are perhaps the scariest and saddest of construction-related deaths.

They’re scary because they happen so fast that once a trench starts to collapse there’s often no time to react and no chance of escape — just one cubic foot of earth can bring up to 3,000 pounds crushing down on a victim trapped within the trench.

The post Preventing A Deadly Trench Collapse appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

If you work for a company with drug testing policies and safety incentive programs, you should be aware that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued new rules designed to prevent those policies from being used to quiet employees about workplace accidents.

How can a drug policy have that effect?

The post Drug Testing Policies and Safety Incentive Programs: New Laws appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

In Illinois, the passing of the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program has left some employees confused about how the Compassionate Use Act and the Workers’ Compensation Act relate. Here are some answers to frequent questions.

Can you still be required to take a drug test for marijuana after an accident?

The post Can You Be Denied Workers’ Compensation for Medical Marijuana? appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

Do you ever feel like your boss is rushing you in the workplace? Do you feel so much pressure that you think you’ll never be fast enough, no matter how quickly you get the job done?

If so, you should know that this is common. The boss is likely worried about production numbers and overall earnings for each day, and the more work that employees can accomplish in the same amount of time, the better these are going to look.

The post Rushing Leads to Workplace Accidents appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.

If you’re hurt on the job, don’t try to tough it out and keep it to yourself. You may be embarrassed about getting hurt or tempted to think it’s no big deal. However, there are some very important reasons to file the report — one of which is that you need proof that you were injured in the first place.

This becomes very important if your injury is such that you can’t do your job as well as you usually do, even for just a short time. For example, if your job involves moving pallets around a warehouse, and you hurt your back, you may not be able to pull the pallets as quickly as you usually do, or you may not be able to pull them at all.

The post It’s Important to File Workplace Accident Reports appeared first on North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates.