Back Injuries

Experienced Representation for Your Work-Related Back Injury

Back injuries are not only painful, but they can have devastating impacts on your ability to earn a living, as the recovery process for back injuries frequently keeps workers off their feet for weeks or even months. Unfortunately, they are also common. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were over 250,000 back injuries causing days away from work from 2021-2022. If you’ve injured your back in a work-related accident and are likely to be laid up for a while, you should consider filing a workers’ compensation claim to ease the financial strain of recovery, and our Long Island workers’ comp lawyers can help.

Most Common Types of Back Injuries

While no two back injuries are exactly the same, most work-related back injuries fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Herniated discs: Occur when the inner gel-like core of a spinal disc pushes through the outer layer, which in some cases can compress nearby nerves, resulting in pain, numbness, and weakness.
• Degenerative discs: Occur when age-related wear and tear causes spinal discs to lose hydration and elasticity, which reduces their capacity to provide cushioning. They often result in chronic back pain accompanied by stiffness.
• Muscle and ligament sprains: Occur when the muscles or ligaments in the back are overstretched or torn, leading to pain, stiffness, and muscle spasms.
• Sciatica: A condition caused by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve (often from a herniated disc), which can cause shooting pain that radiates from the lower back through the buttock and leg.
• Vertebral fractures: Usually occur through direct trauma (such as from a fall or an auto accident), and can cause sudden, severe pain.
• Spondylolisthesis: Occurs when one vertebra in the backbone slips forward over another, often leading to nerve compression and stiffness
• Facet joint arthritis: A condition in which the joints between vertebrae wear down through age or injury, leading to stiffness, aching pain, and reduced range of motion

Even if your back injury is not listed here, fear not — you’re still likely eligible for workers’ compensation benefits as long as your condition is work-related.

Causes of Back Injuries

Back injuries are not confined to professions involving heavy labor. While they may be more common in those professions, it’s not unusual even for sedentary workers to pull a muscle or slip a disc when lifting a heavy box, for example. Some of the most common causes of work-related back injuries include:

• Heavy lifting: Lifting heavy equipment (or patients, in the healthcare industry) is one of the leading causes of back injuries.
• Vibration: Jobs involving heavy machinery, such as jackhammers or power tools, expose workers to vibration, which accelerates wear and tear on the spine.
• Repetitive motions: Jobs that require frequent bending, twisting, or reaching put a lot of stress on the back and can lead to repetitive motion injuries.
• Slips, trips, and falls: Wet floors, uneven surfaces, and even cluttered work areas can result in falls that cause back injuries.
• Prolonged sitting or standing: Poor posture or long periods of standing (e.g., in the retail sector) can cause back injuries over time.
• Vehicle accidents: Workers who drive for a living (e.g., delivery drivers or sanitation workers) are at higher risk of back injuries.

Regardless of how you suffered your back injury, our Long Island workers’ comp lawyers have experience representing injured workers from nearly every sector and industry, so you can trust that your claim is in capable hands.

What to Do After Injuring Your Back

The first thing to do after suffering a back injury at work is to notify your employer of your injury. You have 30 days to notify your employer of a workers compensation case. Next you should seek medical treatment at either a hospital or for quicker service – an urgent care center. When you seek treatment, be sure to give the same history of how the accident occurred to the medical provider as you did your employer – they MUST match! Your employer will submit the case to their insurance carrier, and you should formally submit your claim to the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board within two years, but, again, our Long Island workers’ comp lawyers recommend not waiting until the last minute. You can lessen the risk of making mistakes during the workers’ compensation application process by contacting one of our experienced attorneys as soon as possible after an accident.

Workers’ Compensation for Back Injuries

Workers who suffer back injuries on the job may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

Eligibility

The vast majority of workers in New York are covered by the state’s workers’ compensation insurance requirements. The key inquiry for workers’ compensation eligibility is whether the injury is work-related. Generally, that means that the injury must have occurred in the course of or arising out of the worker’s job duties. Injuries suffered while commuting generally are not eligible, although there are exceptions.

Benefits

Workers’ compensation benefits encompass both medical benefits and cash benefits. Medical benefits are generous, covering all necessary medical expenses due to the injury, including emergency care, follow-up appointments, prescription medications, surgery, and physical therapy and mileage reimbursement among others. Cash benefits are based on the injured worker’s wages prior to the injury and are calculated using the formula below:

⅔ average weekly wage x % of disability = weekly cash benefit

So, to illustrate, if an injured worker’s average weekly wage before his accident was $900 and he is 40% disabled, his weekly cash benefit would be roughly $240.

In the unfortunate event that a worker does not survive their injuries, workers’ compensation also pays death benefits to the deceased worker’s surviving spouse, minor children, and/or other dependents. Death benefits are equal to two-thirds of the worker’s average weekly wage for the 52 weeks prior to the injury. They will also reimburse for funeral services to a maximum level.

Get Back on Your Feet With Help From a Long Island Workers’ Comp Lawyer

If you’ve suffered a work-related back injury, you can maximize your chances of success in obtaining workers’ compensation benefits by working with an experienced attorney. For more information, please contact a Long Island workers’ comp lawyer at Turley, Redmond & Rosasco by using our online form or calling 516-745-5666 (Garden City), 631-582-3700 (Ronkonkoma).