Warehouse Accidents

Warehouse workers often use a variety of large devices and machinery to move and organize products, and unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people working in warehouses to suffer injuries while they are performing their job duties. Warehouse accidents frequently cause significant harm that prevents people from working and requires extensive medical care. Fortunately, many people injured, while working in warehouses, can recover workers’ compensation benefits to offset their losses. If you were hurt at work, you should consult an attorney to determine whether you may be owed benefits. Valerie J. Crown is a knowledgeable Rockland County workers’ compensation lawyer with the skills and experience needed to help you seek an appropriate outcome.

Warehouse workers often use pallets, pallet racks, forklifts, conveyor belts, and cranes to move and organize products. As a result, there are a variety of opportunities for dangerous conditions or harmful incidents to arise. For example, products could spill, resulting in slip and fall accidents that cause strains, sprains, and torn ligaments and tendons. Additionally, goods, that are not properly secured during transport or while they are on a pallet rack, may fall and strike someone and cause fractures, lacerations, or contusions. People can be struck by forklifts or cranes as well, which can cause traumatic brain injuries, fractures, and hemorrhages. Repetitive use injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, often arise in people working on conveyor belts in warehouses.

People, injured in warehouse accidents, may be able to recover workers’ compensation benefits. Eligibility for benefits depends, in part, on the injured person’s status. Specifically, only employees are owed benefits, which means that independent contractors and other non-employee workers generally are ineligible. Additionally, the harm suffered must arise out of and during the course and scope of employment. In other words, the injury must occur when the employee is performing job duties or work-related activities.

A person, who meets the eligibility requirements, may be awarded both medical benefits and disability benefits. Medical benefits provide employees, with work-related injuries or illnesses, with medical care, surgery, prescriptions, and assistive devices. In most instances, an employee must be treated by a provider authorized by the Workers’ Compensation Board to care for injured workers. Providers are required to abide by Medical Treatment Guidelines, established by the Workers’ Compensation Board, when treating certain injuries. Additionally, an employer’s insurer can ask for an injured employee to be assessed by an independent medical examiner to determine the extent and permanency of the harm suffered.

Injured employees may also be awarded disability benefits if they are unable to work for more than seven days or if their income is reduced because they are forced to adjust their job duties or work fewer hours due to their injuries. Disability benefits may be temporary and total, temporary and partial, permanent and partial, or permanent and total. The amount of disability benefits, that an injured employee will receive, depends on numerous factors, such as the employee’s average weekly wage before the injury and the degree of the disability. Disability benefits are subject to a state maximum as well.

Warehouse accidents often cause devastating injuries, and employees, who are hurt in such incidents, can often recover benefits to cover the cost of their care and compensate them for lost wages. If you were injured while working in a warehouse, you should speak to an attorney as soon as possible. Valerie J. Crown is a seasoned Rockland County lawyer who can advise you about your rights and aid you in pursuing the maximum benefits recoverable under the law. Ms. Crown regularly represents employees in workers’ compensation claims in Rockland, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange Counties. You can contact Ms. Crown via the form online or at 845-708-5900 (or her cell phone at 845-598-8253) to schedule a meeting.