The health care industry is designed to help people deal with medical issues and work toward recovery or becoming comfortable. With this in mind, it’s probably strange to think about health care workers suffering their own health issues in the process of tending to others. The reality, however, is that this problem is more common than some might realize.
Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration indicates that nursing home and long-term care employees suffered from twice as many work-related injuries and illnesses as construction workers. Interestingly enough, construction is traditionally considered a high-risk profession.
OSHA indicates that health care employees are most susceptible to musculoskeletal injuries. In total, back injuries among health care workers result in costs totaling up to $20 billion. To put the situation into perspective, this figure represents the monetary impact of only one type of musculoskeletal injury.
Many of these injuries are the result of patient handling. Nurses and other medical assistants are often required to move patients. If patients are immobile, workers may have to bear their full weight. Without the proper training and lifting techniques, a person could become severely injured. This, according to OSHA, is where training becomes very important.
Even with the proper training, health care professionals may realize when a mistake has caused an injury. Not only that, people in this field are likely in touch with the idea of how severe their injury really is. No matter how a workplace injury was sustained, those who are employed in the health care industry shouldn’t be afraid to exercise their rights.
Of course, some people might assume that they aren’t entitled to any compensation simply because their own error attributed to the injury. However, our firm understands that fault doesn’t play a role in workers’ compensation claims. The success of a claim is mostly based on whether or not an injury was suffered in the line of work.
Beyond the terms of Colorado’s workplace injury laws, our firm also understands how the physical and financial costs of health issues can stack up. This is why we are eager to help injured employees understand their legal rights and options.
Source: To learn more, please visit our firm’s workers’ compensation for health care workers page.
