A workplace injury has the potential to render you immobile or even completely incapacitated. If you cannot work as a result of an injury suffered while on the job, don’t panic. Our Atlanta and Savannah workplace injury attorneys help injured workers obtain financial compensation, medical care, and more.
Proving Disability
Disability resulting from workplace injuries has different degrees: full, partial, and temporary. The severity of your injury shapes the extent to which you become disabled. An Atlanta and Savannah workplace injury attorney will help prove workplace activities caused your injury and disability, regardless of its degree.
If the workplace injury prevents you from working in the same capacity for the rest of your life, it is permanent. However, some injuries are less severe, meaning they cause temporary or partial disability.
Disability is typically quantified using the acronym SLU, short for the scheduled loss of use of a body site. The 100% loss of use of a body site renders one permanently disabled, potentially preventing him or her from working in the future.
Alternatively, a less severe injury has a lower scheduled loss of use that creates the potential for partial or temporary disability benefits that last until MMI is reached. MMI is an acronym short for maximum medical improvement.
Seek Medical Evaluation and Care
A doctor’s evaluation of your injury and care regimen is necessary to prove work activities caused the injury. Ongoing medical care will help you recuperate to the point that you reach the aforementioned MMI and return to work.
No two injured workers have the exact same timeline for recovery. It might take one individual several months to reach MMI while another reaches MMI in three weeks.
Keep an Eye on the Future
If you cannot work for weeks, months, or even a couple of years after a workplace injury, don’t lose hope. There is the potential to eventually return to work after a full recovery. In some cases, injured workers are given the opportunity to return to the same employer, albeit in a different capacity.
There is also the potential to return to the same or a similar role with workplace accommodations. Vocational rehabilitation services will facilitate a timely return to work through job training, potentially with partial disability.
Ask for Assistance
If you can no longer work as a result of an injury suffered at work, do not attempt to navigate the workers’ compensation maze on your own. Our Atlanta and Savannah workplace injury attorneys will review your case to determine the best avenue for legal recourse.
In most such cases, a workers’ compensation claim is filed. However, there is also the potential to sue the employer for negligence, meaning failing to fulfill the duty of care owed to employees.
Learn More During a Consultation With Our Atlanta and Savannah Workplace Injury Attorneys
A workplace injury has the potential to alter the course of your life. If you know or suspect repetitive motions, exposure to chemicals, or anything else at work caused or contributed to your injury or illness, ask for help. Contact our Atlanta and Savannah workplace injury attorneys today to schedule a consultation.