Falling at work can lead to a variety of different injuries. People could break bones or develop soft tissue injuries when they try to slow themselves during a fall. Someone could injure their spinal cord or brain if they fall abruptly without flowing themselves down.
The injuries possible when someone falls could put them in the hospital or render them incapable of continuing their work. Sometimes, workers who get hurt because they fall while performing a job are eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim.
Some workers fail to make use of their workplace protections because they believe certain myths about workplace falls and their rights as injured employees. What misinformation about falls could prevent someone from seeking the benefits they deserve?
Only falls from an elevation are serious
Workers who do not have to perform their jobs on the outside of a building or regularly scale ladders may wrongly assume that their fall risk is minimal. However, workplace injury data shows clearly that even same-level falls and tripping incidents can lead to lost time on the job and medical expenses. Falls are one of the leading causes of worker injuries across all industries. Workers don’t need to be at a significant elevation to incur a noticeable injury.
Fall injuries are always obvious
If someone breaks a bone when they fall, they may notice it as soon as they try to get back on their feet. However, some fractures are less extreme than others. The bone might remain in place, allowing someone to use the affected body part without much pain. It might only be when they try to lift something heavy or go to the gym for their workout the next morning that they realize they have a severe injury. Delayed symptom onset is also possible with soft tissue injuries and even brain injuries. It can take some time for the body’s inflammatory response to trigger noticeable symptoms.
Benefits aren’t available if workers fall on their own
A surprising number of workers think that responsibility for a work injury affects benefit eligibility. They think that if they fell because they rushed or wore the wrong shoes, then they have no right to pursue workers’ compensation benefits. Workers’ compensation coverage provides no-fault protection. It doesn’t matter if an employer can blame a worker for falling on the job. They can still theoretically qualify for benefits as long as they didn’t cause the incident through intoxication in the workplace or stage an intentional fall for the purpose of injuring themselves.
Falling on the job is one of many common reasons that people may need to file a workers’ compensation claim. Employees who learn the truth behind common workplace myths may feel more comfortable pursuing benefits.