After suffering a broken bone at work, you understand how significantly these injuries can affect your life. Between medical expenses and lost wages, these injuries can leave a financial burden—and emotional distress—that lasts long after your injury heals. At Schaffer & Associates LPA, our seasoned attorneys have extensive experience navigating fracture injury at work claims. For decades, we have provided top-quality legal counsel to injured workers throughout Ohio. Our legal team is ready to help you recover the full financial compensation you need and deserve. To learn more, consider scheduling a free initial consultation with us by calling (419) 350-8277 today.
How Do Broken Bones and Fractures at Work Happen?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fractures are one of the most common work-related injuries, accounting for over 85,000 injuries in recent years. Fractures, more commonly known as broken bones, can be painful and debilitating injuries. In some cases, these injuries can require surgery or weeks of recovery to fully heal. Fractures are often caused by traumas such as falls, but some medical impairments and repetitive motions can increase your risk of sustaining a fracture.
Workers across a wide range of industries experience fractures related to on-the-job activities. Some of the most common workplace accidents that result in broken bones include:
- Slips, trips, and falls—These accidents are caused by spills, clutter, poor lighting, stepladders, and a range of other hazardous conditions in the workplace. Fractures are among the most serious consequences of falls, representing the primary cause of lost days from work.
- Car accidents—Sudden and forceful blows to the body can cause bones to break during a car accident. Bone fractures of the wrist, arm, leg, and ankle tend to occur during the direct impact of a car accident.
- Construction site accidents—Construction workers face a high risk of injuries resulting in fractures and broken bones at work, oftentimes due to falling objects, machinery accidents, explosions, or misused/malfunctioning power tools.
- Crush injuries—Having a hand or arm caught in a machine, or being pulled into one, are common causes of crush injuries that result in fractures.
- Safety violations—Safety standards are put in place for a reason. When these standards are violated, workers face a high risk of sustaining a fracture or broken bone. These injuries are preventable, and companies can be held accountable for unnecessarily putting their employees at risk.
- Long-term wear and tear—Stress fractures are overuse injuries that develop gradually as a result of repetitive activity. These long-term wear and tear injuries are particularly common among workers who suffer from osteoporosis.
What Types of Bone Fractures Can Happen at Work?
There are several ways to categorize bone breaks and fractures. Broken bone wounds can be broken down into several distinct categories:
- Closed or simple: No open wounds, meaning the bone has broken without compromising the skin.
- Open or compound: At least one wound is open and visible, with bone exposed through the skin or protruding from the wound.
- Comminuted: The bone is broken in at least two places. Comminuted fractures almost always occur due to severe trauma, and usually happen in large bones of the body such as the femur or clavicle.
- Compression: A fracture that causes vertebrae in the spine to collapse, making them shorter.
- Avulsion: This occurs when a small portion of the bone breaks away from the main part of the bone.
- Spiral: This happens when your bone breaks with a twisting motion, resulting in a fracture line that wraps around your bone like a corkscrew.
- Stress: A series of tiny cracks in the bone, can arise from overuse or repetitive motion.
What to Do If You Have a Broken Bone or Fracture Injury From Work?
Unlike other workplace injuries, broken bone fractures produce immediate and obvious symptoms like pain, swelling, bruising, and loss of mobility. You may also experience symptoms like dizziness or nausea. If you have experienced any type of fracture injury at work, it is essential that you seek medical attention as soon as possible.
After sustaining a broken bone at work, you will likely need an x-ray, MRI, or other imaging test to identify the source of the injury and assess the severity of the fracture. In some cases, surgery, casting, or wiring may be required to ensure proper healing. Medication may also be necessary for pain management during the recovery process.
The next step after receiving proper treatment for your injury is to contact an experienced broken bone or fracture injury lawyer. Your attorney will help you apply for and successfully obtain workers’ compensation to cover all costs associated with your injury, as well as lost wages from time spent away from work. The Ohio workers’ compensation system is complex, and having an attorney who will advocate for your rights is key to securing the compensation you deserve.
How to Prove You Have a Broken Bone Injury From Work?
In order to receive workers’ compensation for a broken bone at work, you must provide sufficient evidence that the fracture injury occurred while on the job. At Schaffer & Associates LPA, we work alongside injured workers to identify and collect all necessary evidence for their claim, then navigate the workers’ compensation system, and negotiate a full and fair settlement. We do this by providing a range of evidence to support each case, such as:
- Medical records, diagnostic reports, imaging tests, and treatment plans to provide objective evidence that you sustained a workplace injury.
- Security footage of the location of the event, the equipment involved, and the accident itself, if available.
- Witness statements from coworkers, supervisors, or anyone with firsthand knowledge of the accident.
- Official accident reports from your employer.
It is important to preserve all potential evidence you may have that pertains to the accident. Keep copies of all medical bills, reports, doctors’ notes, and pay stubs, as this documentation may play a key role in your claim down the line.
What Is the Typical Compensation Amount for a Broken Bone or Fracture at Work?
Workers’ compensation should cover medical expenses, lost wages, and disability compensation—all of which vary from claim to claim. Generally, the more severe the injury, the more compensation you can recover after sustaining a fracture injury at work.
Data from the National Safety Council reports that the most costly workers’ compensation claims involve trauma, resulting in fracture, crush, or dislocation. Your fracture injury lawyer can provide you with an estimate of the typical compensation amounts, depending on the unique circumstances of your situation.
How Can a Broken Bone or Fracture Injury Lawyer Help You With Your Claim?
An Ohio broken bone or fracture injury lawyer from Schaffer & Associates LPA will fight for full and fair compensation for your claim. Our team of experienced attorneys will review your case, advise you of your rights, and advocate for you at every step of the workers’ compensation process. Seeking help from a legal team you can trust is key if you have experienced a broken bone or fracture injury at work. You should not be forced to bear the costs of your workplace injury alone. Consider scheduling your free initial consultation with one of our knowledgeable attorneys at (419) 350-8277 to discuss your next steps today.
