Repetitive-trauma injuries occur in a variety of work situations. They are caused by continuous stress or strain on some part of the body due to the repetitive nature of one or more job duties. These types of occupational injuries are often referred to as repetitive-stress or cumulative-stress disorders.
Common job tasks associated with repetitive-trauma injuries include placing, grasping or lifting and moving objects, as well as repetitive movement of tools, and such work activities as typing, keyboarding or other types of clerical data entry.
Repetitive trauma can cause musculoskeletal or neuromuscular disorders, which include sprains, strains and tears of muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Carpal-tunnel syndrome, which is a painful neuromuscular condition that affects the hands and wrists, is a well-known repetitive-trauma injury.
Severe repetitive-stress injuries can cause missed work and ongoing disability. A worker in this situation may be able to obtain workers’ compensation benefits that pay medical bills and make up for a portion of lost wages.
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Repetitive Tasks Add up to Occupational Injury
Repetitive motions, such as grasping tools, scanning groceries and typing, can cause injuries that result in lengthy absences from work or even permanent disability.
Injuries and illnesses incurred from repetitive motion involving these kinds of tasks account for 3 percent of all occupational injury and illness cases, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says. Workers who sustained repetitive-trauma injuries or illnesses require a median of 23 days away from work – nearly three times as many days as necessary for all types of injuries and illnesses.
There were some 34,300 repetitive-motion injuries in one recent year that forced a worker to miss a day or more of work, according to the BLS.
Occupations that most commonly report repetitive-motion injuries requiring days away from work include:
- Assemblers.
- Machine operators.
- Laborers (non-construction).
- Textile sewing machine operators.
- Secretaries.
- Cashiers.
- Packaging and filing machine operators.
- Electrical and electronic machine operators.
- Data-entry workers.
- Hand packers and packagers.
- Welders and cutters.
- Butchers and meat cutters.
- Bookkeepers, accountants and auditing clerks.
- Freight, stock and material handlers.
- General office clerks.
- Production inspectors, checkers and examiners.
- Carpenters.
- Stock handlers and baggers.
Repetitive-trauma injuries may take months, years or even decades to develop. Regardless, employees who have been injured because of the repetitive tasks required by their job duties may deserve to have their medical expenses and wage losses compensated through New York or New Jersey workers’ compensation programs.
Because workers’ compensation is a “no-fault” insurance system, claimants do not have to prove the employer did anything wrong. But they do have to meet the complicated and rigorous requirements of the workers’ compensation system.
With the help of an experienced lawyer from the Ginarte Law Firm, you do not have to worry about the complexity of the system. Let us handle the bureaucracy while you focus on getting better.
Repetitive-Trauma Injury? Get Help from Ginarte Law Firm Now.
If you are the victim of a repetitive-trauma injury sustained on the job, the qualified attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., want to provide you with a free consultation about your workers’ compensation claim. We can help you file or appeal a workers’ comp decision if you have a valid claim.
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Sources:
- Bureau of Labor Statistics – Have Disorders Associated With Repeated Trauma Stopped Increasing?
- Bureau of Labor Statistics – Nonfatal Occupational Injuries And Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2012