Under Mississippi law, employers have to provide workers’ compensation coverage for any injuries that an employee sustained while on the job. However, there are many times when the employer will try to thwart an employee’s legitimate claim by:
- Denying that the employee was injured while performing employment-related duties;
- Denying that the employee suffered from a serious injury; or
- Denying that the employee is permanently or temporarily disabled.
Injuries that are caused by repetitive motions are particularly difficult to prove. Many times, a person injured in this manner will need to bring a legal action in order to force the employer to honor the claim.
Repetitive motion injuries are referred to by a number of names, including repeated motion injuries (RMIs), cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), or repetitive stress injuries (RSIs). There are a number of different types of injury, including the commonly known carpal tunnel syndrome, which afflicts many office workers who do a lot of typing. This injury usually affects the hands, wrist, and/or forearm of the sufferer. However, there are many different types of injuries that may occur when a person performs the same motion over and over again.
Frequently, it is difficult to manage working conditions in order to completely prevent repetitive stress injuries, there are things that a person can do to minimize the long-lasting harm, such as:
- When performing repetitive work, take regular breaks in order to give muscles and joints a chance to recover from the motions;
- Perform regular stretching exercises during work in order to reduce muscle stress;
- Pay attention to the early signs of injury so that he can rest and recover before it develops into a serious injury; and
- Try redesigning the work space to reduce the impact of the repetitive motions.
When a person has a repetitive stress injury, there are a number of symptoms that might present, including:
- Redness and swelling around the bone joint;
- Sensitivity to touching or movement;
- Pain emanating from the area where the injury has occurred, which might be sudden and sharp or sustained and dull;
- Pain radiating from the point of injury to the rest of the limb, head, back, or abdomen; and
- Numbness of the injury site or the area around the injury.
When a person develops a repetitive stress injury, he may be able to recover from it with some rest, pain medication, and rehabilitation. However, there are many cases where the person will suffer a permanent disability as a result of the injury. Although these types of injuries should be covered by workers’ compensation insurance, these are the types of claims that an employer or the insurance company will try to deny.
It is important to realize that a person suffering from a repetitive stress injury needs to take the time to recover from the injury. Often, an employer will try to pressure the employee into an early return, leading to more damage. There are times when the employer wants a company-retained doctor to evaluate the extent of the injuries. An independent medical evaluation is important if it is necessary to pursue a claim before the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission.
As an employee, you have the right to have your medical claim covered by workers’ compensation insurance if you were injured at work. The skilled and dedicated workers’ compensation attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC will sit down with you to develop the best possible legal strategy to get you the coverage that you deserve. To start the process with a free case evaluation, call us at (800) 707-9577. We only receive a fee if we succeed in getting you a payment on your claim.