Many Floridians are familiar with repetitive motion injuries. These injuries develop over a prolonged time period due to repeated bodily motions. If you develop a repetitive motion injury on the job, you may be unable to perform your work duties. Chronic back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome are two examples of these “overuse” injuries that can develop at work. If you have repetitive motion injuries because of your work, then workers’ compensation laws may entitle you to certain benefits. You must be able to prove and document that you developed the injuries because of your work duties, however.
Proving that a repetitive motion injury developed because of work can be challenging, but there are ways to accomplish this, according to E/G of Florida. Finding out if others working in the same conditions have developed repetitive motion injuries may help in documenting an injury’s cause. Physicians with experience in diagnosis and treatment of repetitive motion injuries can help you determine if work conditions caused the injury.
Most Florida employers must carry workers’ compensation insurance. Employer requirements for having workers’ compensation insurance vary depending on the number of employees and whether the employer is a construction business, a nonconstruction business, an agriculture business or a business that uses contractors or out of state employees. Workers’ compensation is a type of accident insurance designed to assist people who become injured on the job. If this happens to you, the law may entitle you to compensation for medical expenses. Workers’ compensation may also compensate you for wage loss until you are able to recover sufficiently to return to work.