You are working on a construction site and fall from the third floor onto the ground below. Miraculously, you are still alive, but you injure your back in the process. While your employer could claim the back injury occurred elsewhere, the chance a court believes them is low as ten witnesses saw you land on your back.
Yet, not all back injuries happen because of something so clear. If an insurer believes it can save money by disputing where your back injury occurred, it may try to.
Back injuries may be accumulative
Many back injuries are not one injury due to one incident, but a series of injuries that accumulate over time to the point where they cause such severe pain that they inhibit your ability to work. Here are some ways that you can prove they occurred in your current workplace:
- Lack of training: Think about what training your employer provided. Did they ever show you how to carry out your tasks in an ergonomic way?
- Understaffing: Have you consistently had to work harder than expected with inadequate rest to get the job done? Have you been required to complete heavy lifting or moving alone because there was no one around to help you?
- Inadequate precautions: Your previous workplaces may have used forklifts to move things around, reducing the amount of manual lifting needed. If your current employer requires you to shift everything by hand, it may help prove responsibility for your injury.
- Other workers have similar injuries: If several of your colleagues also complain of back pain, it may be a sign that something in the workplace is causing it to all of you.
The effects of a workplace back injury can last a lifetime. Make sure you do not settle for an inadequate amount of compensation that leaves you struggling financially in years to come.