What Are the Common Causes of Workplace Accidents Covered by Workers’ Compensation?

Have You Been Injured at Work?

If you’re injured at your job, in most cases, you’re entitled to receive workers’ compensation benefits to reimburse your medical costs and partially replace your lost wages, but to obtain these benefits, you may need the services of an Orange County workers’ compensation lawyer.

Most employers in California make a genuine effort to keep their workplaces safe for employees, contractors, and customers. Nevertheless, accidents or illnesses due to work still happen.

Can the number of workplace injuries in this state be reduced? What types of on-the-job accidents and injuries are covered by California’s workers’ compensation program, and what are the causes of those accidents and injuries?

What Should You Know About Workers’ Compensation?

In California, most job-related injuries are covered by the state’s workers’ compensation system. As a “no-fault” system, workers’ compensation doesn’t require an injured worker to prove that an on-the-job injury was the employer’s fault or caused by the employer’s negligence. And even if the employee’s negligence caused or contributed to the injury, benefits may still be owed.

To receive workers’ comp benefits, injured workers in this state only need to show that their injuries occurred within the “course and scope” of their employment duties.

What Type of Work is the Most Dangerous?

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that more than 400,000 workplace-related injuries and illnesses were reported in California in 2022, as well as more than five hundred fatalities.

In every state, the most dangerous work is construction work. Construction workers account for roughly a quarter of all job-related injuries and deaths. According to OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration), the leading causes of construction-related injuries are:

1. falls and falling objects
2. being caught in or caught between structures, objects, and trenches
3. electrical hazards
4. exposure to toxic substances

What Are the Causes of Other Workplace Injuries?

No type of work is completely hazard-free. Office workers, for instance, routinely suffer severe back injuries and trip-and-fall injuries and even stress and psychological injuries. Across the general workforce, traffic crashes are the leading cause of job-related injuries. The other leading causes of on-the-job injuries are:

1. shootings, assaults, and other attacks by either persons or animals
2. slips, trips, and falls
3. being caught or trapped by equipment or other objects
4. exposure to toxic substances, chemicals, and mold
5. fires, explosions, and electrical hazards

Who is Responsible for Safety at the Workplace?

Employers know their workplaces must be maintained for safety. Employers must check for spills, leaks, clutter, and other potential hazards, and they must eliminate such hazards immediately or provide warnings and signs until such hazards can be removed or repaired.

The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, and OSHA, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, both enforce safety standards in the workplace, but because we all make mistakes, on-the-job accidents will never be entirely eliminated.

Employees, however, can reduce the number of job-related injuries by keeping their work areas hazard-free, and employees should immediately report potentially hazardous situations and conditions.

Why is Reporting Your Injury So Important?

If you’re injured on the job, do not ignore your injury or try to “walk it off” without reporting it. If you don’t make a report, and the injury becomes a serious medical condition, your employer or your employer’s insurance company may claim that you were actually injured away from the job.

You should be examined and treated for an on-the-job injury as quickly as possible, and you should report the injury to your employer at once. A common reason why California employers and insurance companies reject workers’ comp claims is the failure to report injuries promptly.

If you don’t report your injury right away, your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company may deny your claim and insist that you were injured in some other way – and not at work.

What Steps Should You Take After Reporting Your Injury?

After you’ve reported your injury, and after you’ve been seen and treated by a medical professional, you should promptly schedule a consultation with an Orange County workers’ compensation attorney.

Your workers’ comp attorney will review your situation, discuss your options, and guide you through the often-confusing workers’ comp process. Don’t wait. After you’ve been injured, you should have the guidance of an Orange County workers’ compensation lawyer at once.

What Does Workers’ Compensation Provide?

Depending on the nature of your injury, you may be entitled under California law to one or more of these workers’ compensation benefits:

1.  Injured workers are entitled to all reasonable medical treatment for a job-related injury or illness.
2.  Injured employees are entitled to temporary disability benefits to replace two-thirds of their lost wages. There’s a maximum payment amount set by law, and temporary benefits end when the employee returns to work or if the condition becomes permanent.
3.  Workers’ comp in California also provides job displacement benefits, benefits for permanent disability, and death benefits to the families of fatally injured workers.

What Should You Do if Your Workers’ Compensation Benefits Are Denied?

If you are injured while you’re at work in Southern California, let an Orange County workers’ compensation attorney review your workers’ compensation application for thoroughness and accuracy.

If your benefits are denied, your attorney will submit an appeal to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (“WCAB”) and fight for your benefits in the appeals process. Each year in California, approximately 30,000 cases are filed with the WCAB.

Let Espinoza Law Group Handle Your Workers’ Comp Claim or Appeal

When you choose Espinoza Law Group to handle your workers’ compensation claim or appeal, you’ll receive personalized advice about what to expect during the process. Espinoza Law Group provides free case screenings, and we proudly serve all communities in Southern California.

Attorney Ruben R. Espinoza represents injured workers who need workers’ compensation benefits, and he provides high-quality representation for each of his clients. He has recovered benefits totaling millions of dollars for injured Southern California workers.

If you’ve been injured at work, or if your workers’ comp benefits are denied for any reason, now or in the future, learn more and call Espinoza Law Group promptly – from anywhere in Southern California – at 213-667-0701. We know how to win the benefits you need. Se habla español.