Winter Accidents Lead to an Increase in Workers’ Compensation Claims

With winter weather approaching, snow, ice and freezing temperatures will make traveling dangerous for pedestrians and drivers. Sadly, slip and falls and motor vehicle accidents will rise during this time. These accidents will also contribute to a significant increase in workers’ compensation claims.

Each year, accidental slip and falls cause thirty thousand serious injuries and twenty thousand deaths. Icy roads and mounds of snow make it difficult for pedestrians to travel. The same goes for drivers. Icy and snow covered roads can dramatically increase the chance of an accident. For those who travel for a living, this will put them even more at risk.

For example, if a driver for a company were to get into an accident during working hours, they may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. The same goes for an employee who may be walking to a meeting and would slip and fall on a patch of ice. If they were sent to this meeting for work purposes, this would entitle them to workers’ compensation benefits as well.

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that provides compensation to workers if they were to get injured on the job. Depending on the severity of your injury and the type of coverage your employer has, you may be entitled to payment of your medical bills, wage loss benefits and temporary disability during the time that you cannot work.

For business owners, a rise in workers’ compensation claims could mean an increase in insurance costs, having to pay overtime to existing employees and other expenses.

As an employee, going through the workers’ compensation process can become complex. Typically the company will have to approve or deny liability before granting you your lost wages and other benefits. There are also instances in which you may have been granted benefits, but now the insurance providers or doctors feel you are able to return to work; however, you feel otherwise. By contacting the workers’ compensation attorneys at Berger and Green, we can evaluate your case and let you know what your options are.

Source:

Grbj.com “Winter slips and falls lead to rise in workers’ comp claims”