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The fastest growing category of claims a Chicago workers compensation lawyer handles involves repetitive stress injuries (RSI). An RSI is an injury most often caused by repetitive motion of a joint, overexertion, or poor positioning during work.
Chicago workers’ compensation attorneys are well aware that unsafe working conditions are a leading cause of work related injuries and the workers’ compensation claims that result when employers negligently place employees health and safety at risk.
According to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) which was conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,679 individuals lost their lives to work related injuries in 2014. Alarmingly, that is a 2 percent increase in work related fatalities from the previous year.
Any individual who is employed is in some type of risk of experiencing an on the job injury. While some dangers, like working from high structures or around heavy machinery, may be pretty obvious, others are a bit more discreet. Working in confined spaces is one such danger.
Recently, an Illinois police officer injured his back while loading a 40 pound duty bag into the trunk of his personal vehicle as he prepared to report to work. It is reported that the officer was dressed in his work attire, but he was not on duty at the time of the accident, and it was not close to the time for him to report to the police station.
When considering jobs that are high risk, most individuals do not think about the health care field. While occupations like construction work, law enforcement, and similar fields tend to have more obvious hazards, however, the health care industry is still third in the nation when it comes to on the job injuries.
Working in a hospital should be the last place where Illinois employees have to worry about workplace injuries, yet an alarming number of nurses and hospital workers are experiencing career-ending injuries. Nurses and orderlies are often required to perform patient lifts and transfers.
The American workforce has changed substantially during recent decades. Many people in earlier generations could expect to stay with one company for many years and enjoy an uncomplicated retirement. This pattern is now the exception rather than the rule.
Hospitals can be dangerous workplaces. According to current statistics from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 6.8 out of every 100 full-time hospital employees were hurt on the job during 2011. This rate is almost twice as high as the injury prevalence rate in private industry.
According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, construction is one of the riskiest industries in America. More job-related deaths occur in this sector of industry than in any other trade or profession, as workers’ compensation lawyers in Chicago know.
