Workplace Hospital Workers Injury Lawyers in Charlotte, NC

Protecting Your Rights to Compensation

We rely on hospitals when we are ill or injured, but ironically, hospital workers are among those at the highest risk for injury and illness. Even for experienced employees, hospitals can be extremely hazardous work environments. Workers are frequently exposed to lifting injuries, dangerous pathogens, sharp instruments, slippery surfaces, dangerous patients, and various machines. Due to these and other hazards, it is common for nurses, physicians, therapists, technicians, janitors, receptionists, cafeteria workers, and other types of hospital workers to be seriously injured on the job.

If you, your spouse, or one of your family members was injured while working at a hospital in Charlotte, Ramsay Law Firm, P.A. may be able to help. You could be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, which can cover some of your medical expenses while compensating you for lost wages and earnings. Our attorneys have over 25 years of experience handling workers’ compensation claims for hospital workers and can walk you through each stage of the claims process, from filing your initial claim to appealing a claim denial to restoring benefits that were improperly terminated.

Our firm represents nurses, lab technicians, therapists, nurse assistants (CNAs), and other types of hospital workers throughout the Charlotte region.

Common Healthcare Worker Injuries

According to data released last year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the nursing industry has the highest rate of nonfatal injury and illness. In the nursing industry at the state government level, nearly 14 out of every 100 full-time employees suffered a nonfatal illness or injury during 2016, surpassing manufacturing, law enforcement, and even firefighting jobs.

As members of the healthcare industry, hospital workers are also at high risk of being involved in workplace accidents.

In 2016, the BLS reported the following injury rates for workers at different types of hospitals:

  • Medical and Surgical Hospitals – 5.5 nonfatal injuries per 100 full-time employees
  • Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals – 6.7
  • Specialty Hospitals – 4.7

No matter what type of hospital an employee works at, he or she is constantly exposed to serious health hazards, such as biohazards like blood and saliva, contaminated and infected surfaces, fluids that can cause slip and fall accidents, needles that can pierce protective outerwear, and sharp instruments that can cause serious lacerations or puncture wounds. Our Charlotte workers’ compensation attorneys handle a wide array of hospital injury claims in the Charlotte area.

Examples of common healthcare injuries we handle include:

Who is Eligible for Workers’ Compensation Benefits in NC?

Most employers are required to provide workers’ compensation insurance coverage under the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act, which broadly applies to companies with a minimum of three employees. Regardless of whether the company you work for is structured as an S corporation, C corporation, limited liability company (LLC), or as a different type of business entity, you will likely be covered by the Act.

To qualify for benefits, you must have either:

  • Suffered an occupational disease (sometimes abbreviated “OD”).
  • Suffered an injury by accident or “specific traumatic incident” (STI). An STI is an event which, though not quite an “accident,” still results in a work injury, such as an injury caused by lifting a patient.

If your employer does not provide workers’ compensation insurance, has told you that you cannot file a claim, or has recently denied your claim, you should contact our attorneys immediately for guidance. Your employer may have made an error, or could be acting in violation of your rights as an injured employee.

For a free legal consultation about filing a claim, appealing a denied claim, restoring benefits that were suspended or terminated, or other aspects of workers’ compensation laws in North Carolina, call us at (704) 376-1616

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