Are Office Employee Injuries Covered?
We all agree that it is safer to work in an office than on a construction site or in a meat processing plant. While slip and fall accidents happen in office buildings, many office employees are more likely to get hurt progressively from repetitive motion and staying in the same position or doing the same work for hours on end. They gradually feel worse and suffer more, up to the point that medical treatment becomes necessary.
In such a case, your employer may put pressure on you not to report the injury as work-related, stressing the point that no specific accident was involved.
If so, you may have to ask for medical and legal advice because injuries sustained in an office environment, even from repetitive motion, are covered by workers' compensation law in North Carolina.
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What are repetitive motion (RM) injuries?
RM injuries happen frequently in the industrial world, where workers constantly handle the same heavy tools and goods, do the same movements and strain the same muscles.
You can even get hurt while you are gardening or playing tennis, and with the rise of white-collar, office-based jobs, RM injuries have become very common in office buildings across North Carolina and the country.
What causes RM injuries is constant motion repetition without interruption, unnatural movements, incorrect posture, muscle fatigue or overexertion. The injuries affect mostly the shoulders, the neck, the hands, the wrists (carpal tunnel syndrome) or the elbows, but other parts can also be injured like the knees, legs, ankles, feet and hips.
Most office work injuries result in intense pain, swelling, numbness, tingling and a loss of strength and flexibility. Repetitive motion disorders need to be treated immediately, before they cause permanent damage to muscles, nerves, tendons and ligaments.
What should you do if you have been hurt at the office in North Carolina?
Whether you have been hurt by a one-time event, by the succession of countless movements or by the uninterrupted same work position (like eye straining computer use), your injuries are real and were sustained at work. They should be reported as such and should be covered by your employer's workers' comp insurance.
If you have doubts about reporting injuries sustained in an office environment as a work accident, contact Joe Miller Law in Elizabeth City, where attorney Joseph Miller, Esq has been representing injured North Carolina workers for over 20 years. Call us locally 757-455-8889 or toll-free 888-694-1671 or contact us online for a FREE, no commitment discussion of your case.