The holidays mark the busiest shopping season of the year, with FedEx and other delivery services companies struggling to ship out and deliver millions of packages and Christmas gifts across the U.S. in a timely manner.
Guess who has to break their backs (literally) to handle all those huge amounts of holiday orders? Delivery guys and FedEx/UPS drivers…
The most common injuries suffered by delivery personnel at any delivery services firm in Los Angeles are lifting injuries.
Fact: thousands of workers compensation claims are filed across the U.S. because of lifting injuries every year.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “lifting, placing, carrying, holding and lowering [objects] are the principal cause of compensable work injuries.” That means your employer may be held liable for your lifting injuries suffered at work.
With so many holiday orders being shipped out in December, delivery drivers and other employees responsible for packaging, inspecting, and transporting domestic and international deliveries are at a higher risk of injuries caused by lifting, carrying, and lowering dozens or hundreds of deliveries and packages.
Our workers compensation attorneys in Los Angeles at Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach explain that there are quite a few things to consider before filing a lifting injury claim to seek compensation for your lost wages, injuries, and other damages.
Since there are no federal and state laws regulating workplace lifting requirements in California, delivery services companies and individual employers must establish their own guidelines governing such requirements to prevent workplace injuries.
If an employer hasn’t developed workplace lifting requirements or failed to tell you about their existence, the company may be held liable for your lifting injuries due to negligent practices and failure to prevent injuries at work.
Another thing to consider when seeking workers compensation for your lifting injuries is that you should never – NEVER – let your employer assign their own doctor who would diagnose you and evaluate your injuries.
More often than not, employer-assigned doctors will have a biased opinion about your injuries and damages, which may not only prevent you from obtaining workers compensation but also aggravate your injuries in case of misdiagnosis or mistreatment (and this, in turn, may lead to disability).
Our best workers compensation lawyers in Los Angeles explain that each and every employer whose workers have to lift and carry heavy objects as part of their duties are required to create guidelines to determine the limits for safe lifting based on the following:
Having these lifting guidelines in place can help prevent lifting injuries in the workplace. This is especially for the holiday season when delivery drivers and other personnel are time-crunched to deliver an unreasonable amount of packages and orders just in time for Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
Not to mention that with a large number of Christmas deliveries, it’s uncommon for objects to be marked with incorrect weight (which puts delivery drivers at higher risk of injuries).
Typically, employees whose duties include lifting and carrying heavy objects suffer from injuries in the lumbar region of the back (lower back pain). Lifting injuries occur due to sudden trauma (excessive weight, improper lifting technique, inadequate packaging, etc.) or cumulative strain of the workers muscles, tendons, or ligaments.
Here at Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach, our workers compensation lawyers who have handled hundreds of lifting injury claims in the past over 40 years warn that such injuries must be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible to prevent partial or permanent paralysis.
In many cases, workers may be required to undergo costly surgeries for a full recovery. Needless to say, physical recovery and treatment of lifting injuries may reach tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills, physical therapy bills, and out-of-pocket expenses for medications and home equipment required for the treatment.
Not to mention the loss of capability, disability, or lost wages resulting from a lifting injury in the workplace. If you can prove that your injuries occurred at work due to your employer’s negligence or failure to provide a safe workplace environment, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and damages.
Consult our Los Angeles workers compensation attorneys to find out what would be the best legal options in your particular case. Call Law Offices of Kropach & Kropach at 818-609-7005 or complete this contact form for a free case evaluation.
