Not all workers’ compensation benefits are equal. The type and amount of benefit will always depend on the type of injury or illness. The more serious or complicated your injury, the more important it is that your receive legal representation from a lawyer with extensive experience in workers' compensation cases. At Fenner & Boles, we have handled many work accident cases involving very serious injuries. Some of the more common types of injuries filed in workers’ comp cases are described:

Amputation/Loss of Limb

An accident that leads to a severed limb is devastating to anyone, at any age. And no amount of money can ever make up for the loss.

However, when loss of limb is work-related, you are entitled to medical treatment, including surgeries and prostheses where appropriate. You are also entitled to a special type of compensation known as "specific loss benefits." Under Pennsylvania workers' compensation law, you are entitled to specific loss benefits for amputation or loss of limb. The amount of specific loss benefits will vary, depending on which part of your body was severed.

If your injury is such that you do not anticipate that you will realistically be able to return to the work force, you will want to file for total disability benefits rather than specific loss benefits. Disability benefits can continue indefinitely; specific loss benefits do not. Fenner & Boles will work to assure you get adequate compensation for your injury.

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Back Injuries

Back injuries are the most common work injury. They are medically very complex to diagnose since most people suffer from some degradation to the back as part of normal aging.

Under Pennsylvania law, an injured worker is entitled to benefits even with a pre-existing back condition, if the condition was aggravated by the worker’s duties. However, proving that is a difficult job.

Fenner & Boles has represented scores of workers with back injuries. Representing workers with back injuries requires a strong background in medicine as well as knowledge of the law. We take pride in our ability to understand the medical issues involved in back injury cases and to explain these issues to the satisfaction of a workers’ compensation judge.

Because so many jobs require a strong back to perform the work, it is particularly important for the injured worker to receive benefits and to continue receiving those benefits when alternate employment cannot to be found. Fenner & Boles has the experience to do both.

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Repetitive Stress Injuries

All employees who perform the same motion over and over again at work are at risk for a repetitive stress injury. Repetitive stress injuries happen over time.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one such injury. This syndrome is often associated with manufacturing workers who perform assembly work and office workers who type or perform other repetitive tasks for much of the day.
Repetitive stress injury is a debilitating, progressive condition that requires treatment. Workers often spend years trying to work through the pain, worried about losing their jobs if they complain. Often by the time the condition is diagnosed, it has progressed to the point where the only treatment option is surgery.

At Fenner & Boles, we work with your doctors to ensure that your injuries and work restrictions are fully documented. We will see that you get adequate compensation for loss of wages and for the medical care that you will need.

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Head and Brain Injury/Post Concussion Syndrome

A head or brain injury may not be noticeable to the outside world. Only the injured worker and his immediate family may recognize the signs of head injury:

• memory loss or forgetfulness
  

• extreme headaches
  

• mood swings
  

• change in behavior

Early diagnosis and treatment can lead to a better outcome. Moreover, early diagnosis can also lead to an employer accepting liability for that part of the work injury, or increase the likelihood of having a judge recognize the head injury as part of the larger work injury.

Head and brain injuries may be permanent and may prevent return to the work force. These injuries may also require extensive medical treatment, surgery, attendant care, and other expenses that often last a lifetime.

Often the injured worker has sustained multiple injuries, and the last to be addressed is the head and brain component. Only when the physical injuries have healed does the worker or his family focus on the mental aspects of the injury.

If you believe a head or brain injury is associated with a work-place injury, it is important to speak with an attorney early in the process. The attorneys at Fenner & Boles can help bring attention to the head injury and get you the compensation you need.

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Electrocution

Working with, or near, high-voltage power lines or other live electrical currents is dangerous work, even for trained professionals. Electric shock can cause workers to suffer severe burn injuries, nerve damage, or neurologic injury, brain trauma, heart attack, paralysis and other catastrophic injuries.

Fenner & Boles has represented construction workers, utility workers, factory workers, and others who have been injured in work-related electrical accidents, such as those involving:

• cranes or other construction equipment * coming into contact with power lines
  

• subcontractors splicing faulty wiring
  

• electrical surges during a utility worker's repair work
  

• electrical fires in a manufacturing plant and
  

• mechanical failures in high power machinery.

At Fenner & Boles, we work with your doctors to ensure that your injuries and work restrictions are fully documented.

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Burn Injuries

On-the-job accidents that cause severe burns can happen in any setting:

• A worker’s clothes catch fire because of a defective power tool
  

• A worker sustains chemical burns because of contact with harsh chemicals
  

• Employees sustain severe burns after being trapped inside an office building, warehouse or downed airplane
  

• A worker sustains electrical burns because of contact with overhead power lines or a defective tool

Burn injuries on any part of the body can also be grounds for total disability or partial disability claims. In such cases, it is particularly important for the injured worker to be able to document and explain his intense pain and suffering, lost range of motion, nerve damage, and other disabling effects. Sometimes a mental disorder develops as a result of the burn, and this too must be addressed.

Burn injuries also require specialized medical treatment, such as:

• physical therapy
  

• skin graft surgery
  

• cosmetic and reconstructive surgery
  

• pain management
  

• psychological counseling

While the trauma of a severe burn may last a lifetime, some injured workers are able to return to work despite their disfigurement. If the burn injury causes permanent scarring or disfigurement, you are entitled to special workers' compensation—no matter what happened, how it happened or who was at fault. Benefits are based on the severity of the disfigurement, and are decided by a workers’ compensation judge. . At Fenner & Boles, we are dedicated to helping injured workers with burn injuries get full compensation for their injuries and all the medical care they need for a lifetime.

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Spinal Cord Injury

A spinal cord injury can happen in a split second, yet the damage can last for a lifetime.A sudden fall from the roof of a home you were repairing. Some settings for this type of injury include:

• a sudden fall from the roof of a home you were repairing
  

• a fall from collapsed scaffolding at a construction site.
  

• a blow to the neck or back when equipment falls in a warehouse.

A spinal cord injury is one of the most catastrophic injuries that a worker can endure. As with any injury, there are varying degrees of severity in damage caused by a spinal cord injury.

• Quadriplegia (also called tetraplegia): This injury can cause paralysis of the upper and lower extremities. For some people, this means everything from the neck down is paralyzed. For other people, the hands and legs are paralyzed; yet some mobility may remain in the arms.
  

• Paraplegia: Paraplegia involves much less nerve damage than quadriplegia. However, a spinal cord injury that results in paraplegia can cause paralysis of the legs and lower torso.

The lifetime care that is required for someone with any degree of paralysis can be well over $1 million. Our detailed representation focuses on helping you recover the full compensation that is needed to cover medical bills, future rehabilitation, wheelchairs, home modifications, lost wages, lost earning capacity and attendant care. In addition, we can analyze whether a third party can also be held financially responsible for your injuries.
At Fenner & Boles, our understanding of these issues can ensure that you receive the full benefits and compensation to which you are entitled.

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Occupational Diseases/Toxic Exposures

Occupational disease is a special category of workers' compensation claims for illnesses stemming from workplace exposure to toxic materials and other health hazards.

Many claims for occupational disease involve workplace exposure to:

• coal dust, silica dust or asbestos
  

• methane, carbon monoxide or other gases
  

• solvents and fumes
  

• arsenic, mercury, lead or manganese
  

• dust, smoke or heat
  

• hepatitis

Some health conditions are listed as "enumerated claims," which presume a connection between certain illnesses and specific occupations (for example, silicosis from sandblasting work, and black lung disease from coal mining). For those conditions, there is a rebuttable presumption that your illness is work-related.

For other occupational diseases, an injured worker will have to prove the causal connection between the disease or condition and the workplace exposure under a "catch-all" provision. With the help of expert medical testimony and testimony of co-workers, and sometimes toxicologists, it is necessary to prove that:

• the worker was exposed to the disease by reason of his employment;
  

• the disease is causally related to the industry or occupation, and;
  

• there is a substantially greater incidence of the disease in that industry or occupation than in the general population.

At Fenner & Boles we have the experience to represent and provide testimony that your illness was a direct result of work-place exposure.

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Loss of Vision and Hearing Loss

Whether you lose sight in one or both eyes as a result of a workplace accident or exposure such as a chemical burn or flying object, you are entitled to special benefits under the Pennsylvania workers' compensation system. These benefits are due to you whether or you are unable to work.

Lost vision is a Specific Loss claim, paid on top of your regular pay or disability pay. Lost vision claims are an all-or-none situation. Benefits are awarded only for loss of an eye or for blindness.
Hearing loss can be caused either by a specific traumatic incident, such as a head trauma, or by long-term exposure to loud noises, such as daily exposure to loud machinery. The worker who loses hearing will be entitled to special benefits. However, benefits are calculated differently for hearing loss caused by specific trauma as opposed to hearing loss caused by long-term exposure to loud noise.

The attorneys at Fenner & Boles have represented scores of workers with vision and hearing loss claims.

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Fatal Workplace Accidents

When workers are die as a result of workplace accidents, their families may be entitled to death benefits through workers' compensation.

Workers' compensation benefits are available not only when a single incident causes immediate death, but also when a work-related accident leads to death in the days, weeks, months or even years following the accident. This includes complications of injuries such as hospital infection and post-surgery complication. Obviously in occupational disease claims, the disease presents itself after years of exposure.

Dependants of the deceased, such as the spouse and minor children, are entitled to workers' compensation death benefits. It is important to note that these benefits pay only a fraction of the deceased worker's wages.

It is important that the families of workers who die as a result of workplace accidents receive appropriate compensation. Fenner & Boles will work to make sure dependants receive benefits to the fullest extent allowed under Pennsylvania law.

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Mental Stress Claims

Under certain circumstances, workers who develop psychological conditions as a result of some incident or experience at work, and who are unable to work as a result of those psychological conditions, are entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

Be aware that employers and insurance companies almost never acknowledge these claims without a court battle. Moreover, the standard of proof is very high, requiring the worker claiming injury to prove exposure to "abnormal working conditions.”

Whether a worker is entitled to benefits will depend in part on whether the conditions were abnormal within the context of the particular job. For example, a police officer who saw his partner fatally shot may have met this standard because such working conditions were not "abnormal."

More commonly, an injured worker who is out of work for a significant time due to physical injury often develops depression as a result of the injury. In these cases, attorneys can often get the employer to acknowledge a psychological injury. By doing so, the injured worker is able to get appropriate psychological counseling to help him adjust to the disability.

Mental stress claims are always an uphill battle. Fenner & Boles has the experience to see these types of claims through to resolution.

FENNER & BOLES: Protecting Pennsylvania’s Employees for More Than 25 Years.