Regardless of the occupation, Massachusetts workers are constantly exposed to injury. The injuries they can potentially sustain range from rather minor injuries, to even death. Here is a breakdown of some common, non-fatal workers’ compensation injury types from insurancejournal.com.

• strains and sprains (30 percent)
• cuts or punctures (19 percent)
• contusions (12 percent)
• inflammation (5 percent)
• fractures (5 percent)

Whether or not the work injury was or was not the fault of the worker, he may still though collect workers’ comp benefits. That is because workers’ compensation law in Massachusetts is a no-fault benefit. That means fault does not matter with these cases. In exchange, workers may not sue their employer for an industrial accident.

This is different than other personal injury claims that require the injured party to show fault (negligence) on the party that caused the accident, in order for a case to be successful. With these cases, the injured party may file a lawsuit seeking money damages.
Here are some common causes of on-the-job injuries.

Repetitive Injuries

Many workers are paid to repeat the same uninterrupted physical acts day in and day out. This leads to repetitive injuries. Examples include the following injuries (courtesy of verywellhealth.com):

• carpal tunnel syndrome (one of the most common and well known)
• bursitis
• tendinitis / tendonitis
• epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
• ganglion cyst
• tenosynovitis
• trigger finger
• herniated discs

These injuries can be caused by frequent overhead lifting, lifting heavy objects off the floor, and overuse of a body part. They fall under the protections and benefits of workers’ compensation law. Sometimes these claims can be more difficult to prove than are injuries that arise from one singular event.

Slip and Falls

These are extremely common causes of many work injuries. The injured worker may have slipped and fell on a liquid on the floor, a waxy floor, or some other slip and fall. It does not matter if the employee was at-fault. As long as the slip and fall occurred during the course and scope of employment, it is a compensable injury under workers’ comp. If the accident was caused by a party other than the employer, then that party can be sued.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Many workers such as truck drivers spend all their working hours on the road. That type of work puts these drivers at greater risk of being involved in an accident. Keep in mind the coming-and-going rule does not apply to car wrecks that occur on the way to, or from, the workplace.

As with slip and fall injuries, workers injured in car accidents have not only a workers’ compensation case to pursue, but also a third-party negligence case, assuming the other party was at fault for causing the accident.

Massachusetts Work Injury Lawyer

No matter how your work injury occurred, hiring a local work injury attorney is a sound decision. Hire representation and never get taken advantage of by an insurance company.