A Warehouse Worker’s Slip, Trip and Fall Woes

The law requires that employers pay for workers’ compensation insurance to address workplace incidents, which includes the following benefits:

• Medical cost: Doctors’ fees, tests and other additional expenses for treatment
• Supplemental benefits: Vocational training and other skills enhancement programs aimed to get you back on track with your job responsibilities
• Temporary disability benefits: Accounts for lost wages since your injury prevents you from performing your tasks and usually amounts to two-thirds of your weekly income
• Permanent disability benefits: Based on your disability rating, if you don’t recover completely and incur lifetime physical and mental losses or dysfunctions
• Death benefits: Payments for your surviving spouse, children or other dependents

However, there are instances when another individual’s negligence caused your injury. For example, you had a car accident while driving the company vehicle because of another distracted driver. You could also have broken bones because of a slip-and-fall incident on a property not owned by your employer. These examples demonstrate a third-party claim.

When you suffer from occupational injuries, you may receive benefits from California’s workers’ compensation insurance through your employer. The policy includes medical treatment, lost wages and assistance to help you get back to work. Here are potential reasons that must have caused your injuries:

• Slipping objects stacked on high shelves
• Pallet fragments, accumulated dust, sawdust and other hazardous debris on the floor
• Failure to see an obstruction, such as spilled substances and cluttered stock items, in walkways while carrying heavy goods, using huge machinery or interacting with a co-worker

As a preventive measure, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration devised standards related to walking-working surfaces. One of the provisions requires that employers keep the cleanliness, order and sanitation of passageways, service rooms, store rooms and other surfaces at all times. Further, there should also be regular inspections and repairs to maintain the structural integrity of all floor surfaces used for work.

But sometimes, despite the most thorough precautions, work-related injuries still happen. You may end up with minor cuts and bruises or suffer from severe conditions and disfigurements. Your employer must have a list of approved health care providers to give you the cure and relief within California’s medical treatment guidelines.