Pennsylvania Repetitive Stress Injury Claims

Serious Injury Lawyers Helping Clients in Carlisle, Hanover, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Schuylkill County & York, PA

Repetitive stress injuries are the painful result of doing the same motion over and over again. While some repetitive stress injuries are made worse by disease, they are also caused by the negligence of another person. If you have experienced a repetitive stress injury due to the actions of another person, it is time to contact an experienced Pennsylvania personal injury attorney.

The personal injury lawyers at Handler, Henning, & Rosenberg have helped people throughout Pennsylvania obtain justice since 1922. Our firm has helped over 40,000 people obtain tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements when they needed help the most. We understand how an injury takes away an individual's ability to work and unfairly increases the financial pressures they experience. Our attorneys are proud the help the people that turn to them for advocacy in the face of lifelong pain.

Call us today at (888) 498-3023 for a free consultation. Our Pennsylvania repetitive stress injury attorneys are here to help you!

Repetitive Stress Injury Causes & Symptoms

Repetitive stress injuries, also known as repetitive motion injuries, are caused by repeating the same motion until the muscles and cartilage wear out prematurely. Injuries are produced when tissue is damaged but is unable to heal due to continued overuse. When a repetitive stress injury happens, it often causes persistent pain.

Symptoms of repetitive stress injuries include:

• Tenderness and tingling
• Pain in the injured muscle or joint
• Numbness
• Loss of strength

Repetitive stress injuries are often caused by unsafe or unfair work environments. These environmental hazards are preventable, and those that do not act to change them should be held accountable when an injury occurs. Most employers are aware of the unsafe characteristics of their workplaces. When they fail to provide employees with needed protection, employers must face the consequences of their decisions.

Common work-related repetitive stress injury sources include:

• Cold environments
• Vibrating machinery and equipment
• Carrying dangerous amounts of weight without assistive equipment
• Repetitive forceful activities

Types of Repetitive Stress Injuries

There are two types of common repetitive stress injuries:

• Tendinitis: Caused by tendon inflammation, creating pain as tendons connect muscle to bone to allow joint movement. Common parts of the body that experience tendinitis are the biceps, shoulders, and elbows. When the lubricating sheath the tendons run through are inflamed, tenosynovitis occurs. Carpal tunnel is a well-known form of tenosynovitis.
• Bursitis: Tendons and bones are lubricated by tiny sacs known as bursae. When these are inflamed from repetitive motion, victims experience pain in the elbows, knees, and hips. Bursitis may happen from trauma and illness, making its causes more varied.

These injuries are excruciating because, once they occur, the pain is compounded by normal, everyday motion. No one should be forced to have their ability to move inhibited by these types of injuries. Employers must compensate employees for the wages lost due to repetitive stress injuries caused by working.

The Most Likely Jobs to Create Repetitive Stress Injuries

Given the nature of many jobs, injuries from repetitive stress or repetitive motion are among the most common work-related injuries. Some sources say that up to 60% of workplace injuries are due to RSI. OSHA regulations and workers' compensation law both address repetitive stress and its prevention.

First, let's look at the jobs most likely to cause RSIs:

• Nurses and hospital aides
• Janitors and housekeepers
• Grocery and stock clerks
• Delivery workers
• Bus drivers
• Plumbers
• Musicians
• Firefighters
• Office workers
• Professional athletes

These professions all require repeating the same physical motions for hours. Even just mild discomfort or dysfunction can become excruciating after weeks or months of repetition. But is it the nature of the job? Or are employers responsible for ensuring their workers are cared for after an injury?

OSHA makes employers responsible for mitigating RSIs to a degree. For instance, most employers are required to evaluate their worksites for potential exposure to repetitive motions, then establish controls to ensure workers have limited exposure. This could include designing workstations to workplace ergonomic standards or simply rotating shifts so that workers aren't doing physically strenuous motions at a high pace for long periods of time.

Workers' Compensation for RSIs

If the repetitive motions required by your job left you injured and unable to work, you'll be able to file a workers' compensation claim. The benefit of workers' comp is that it is "no fault," which means you're not required to prove negligence on your employer's part. There are drawbacks to this, but the main benefit is that you need only to prove the injuries were from work to receive benefits.

If you're filing for workers' compensation, we recommend working with a workers' comp lawyer to ensure you get maximum benefits under the law. There are benefits you may not realize you're entitled to. Attorney J. Jeffrey Watson at Handler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Law Section as authorized by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court—he'd be happy to walk you through your options.

When Workers' Comp Isn't Enough

Now, workers' comp benefits cover medical care and partially cover wages for a certain period. If your RSI is severe and leads to a lifelong disability, then you may be able to file for disability benefits under SSDI (which our firm also has a track record of success in). But what if you've suffered a severe degradation in your quality of life? What coverage could make up for lifelong pain or loss of mobility? The civil courts in Pennsylvania might provide a remedy.

However, the standard of proof for a civil lawsuit is higher than a workers' comp or SSDI claim.

You'll need to prove that your employer's actions contributed to your injuries beyond simply the duties required by your job. For instance, if you're a grocery store worker who suffered a debilitating back injury at work, you'd have the best luck recovering under workers' comp or SSDI. However, if your employer refused to let you wear a belt while lifting heavy items or made you do two-person jobs by yourself, you may have a case for suing your employer for negligence. A case like that would allow you to claim noneconomic damages in addition to economic losses.

Call a Pennsylvania Repetitive Stress Attorney Today

Repetitive stress injuries are frustrating and painful. They often force those who suffer from them to take time away from work and cause undue financial burden. As a result, the people that produce the unsafe work environments that encourage repetitive stress injuries must be held accountable. The attorneys at HHR know that those who can prevent work conditions that cause injury often take no steps to eliminate any risk.

If you have a repetitive stress injury that was caused by your job, call Handler, Henning & Rosenberg at (888) 498-3023. Our clients pay nothing unless they win—and we've won tens of millions of dollars for the injured since 1922.