How can you prove a work-related back injury?
Work-related back injuries impact more than 600,000 workers in the U.S. each year. This statistic shows how common these injuries are.
Regardless of what work activity caused your back injury, the pain is often debilitating, making it impossible to continue working as normal. If you suffered a back injury while on the job, you may be able to recover workers’ compensation benefits. However, it’s important to take the right steps to protect your rights to these benefits.
Don’t wait to get a medical evaluation
It’s not uncommon for a worker to put off going to the doctor for minor back pain. However, the longer you wait, the more severe the injury and pain may become. Also, the longer you wait, the more grounds your employer’s insurance company may have to deny your claim, state it did not happen at work, or that the injury isn’t as severe as you claim.
By seeking medical treatment and evaluation immediately, you have documentation proving what is going on and when the situation started.
Proving work-related back pain
There are a few things you should have in place to prove that your back pain is work-related. Documentation from your doctor is a must-have, which is why medical attention is so important. You should also provide an ongoing treatment plan from your doctor.
Additional proof for your situation includes co-workers who witnessed the cause of your injury or video footage from your workplace. All this can be used to prove your back pain or injury was caused while on the job.
Protecting your right to benefits
Recovering workers’ compensation benefits for work-related back pain is your right. However, you need to keep the information above in mind to ensure you can prove that on-the-job activities caused the problem.