Most people understandably devote little thought to how much weight their knees carry with each step and how much tension the tendons within have to resist with every movement. Anyone who has suffered a serious knee injury knows exactly how important this part of the body is, primarily because they also now know how painful and debilitating even minor damage to that area can be.
Fortunately, workers’ compensation should provide benefits to help cover medical bills and certain other losses stemming from this sort of trauma if it happens as a direct result of a workplace accident or your general working conditions. Unfortunately, getting those benefits can be difficult without a skilled workplace injury attorney’s guidance. If you have been hurt in this way recently, contacting a Las Vegas workplace knee injury lawyer from Shook & Stone should be among your top priorities.
What to Do After Suffering a Knee Injury on the Job
Of course, we say “among your top priorities” because your absolute number-one priority after sustaining any kind of knee injury at work should be:
- Notifying your employer about your injury in writing, and ideally by using the Incident Report form created by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry’s Division of Industrial Relations (DIR)
You should still do this even if your injury does not seem particularly serious at first, since failing to do so may prevent you from seeking workers’ comp benefits if that injury suddenly worsens later on.
After receiving your injury report, your employer should provide you with another DIR form (C-4), which you will need to fill out the “Employee” section of and return to your employer. At this point, you will also need to seek an initial diagnosis and treatment of your injury from an employer-approved doctor, and then get that doctor to sign your C-4 form. A Las Vegas workplace knee injury attorney can explain all these steps in more detail and offer guidance about how to go about completing them during a private initial meeting.
Temporary Versus Permanent Disability for Knee Damage
In addition to fault-free reimbursement for reasonably necessary medical expenses, you can also receive workers’ comp benefits for temporary or permanent disability caused by a work-related knee injury. Both types of benefits are generally equal to about two-thirds of what you made in wages or salary in an average week right before you got hurt. Still, those amounts may be adjusted based on the disability rating your doctors assign to you and, if you have an extremely high income, what the statewide average determined by the DIR.
For the most part, workplace knee injuries in Las Vegas only qualify injured workers for temporary disability benefits, since most types of knee damage—including even serious tears to the ACL and other ligaments inside the knee—can be all but fully repaired with time and proper medical care. If you do suffer a permanent loss of working capacity from this sort of trauma, though, having a seasoned lawyer on your side will be even more vital to establishing that you are, in fact, disabled and that you should be eligible for permanent disability benefits as a result.
Talk to a Las Vegas Workplace Knee Injury Attorney About Recovery Options
From kneecap fractures to ligament sprains to even tiny meniscus tears, there are not many forms of knee damage that will not significantly affect your mobility in the short term. No matter how long your injury lasts or how severe it is, you have a right to seek workers’ comp benefits if it only happened because you were at work performing your job-related duties.
Assistance from a Las Vegas workplace knee injury lawyer can make a world of difference in how your claim goes and what kind of resolution it has for you. Call Shook & Stone today to discuss your recovery options.
