The Kentucky Workers Compensation Act requires employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance to pay for medical treatment with no co-payments required of the worker (Chapter 342 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS)). Workers’ comp also pays a portion of lost wages during an injured factory worker’s recovery or if a permanent disability requires ongoing care.
You may have the right to workers’ compensation medical benefits or paid medical expenses plus compensation for lost wages after factory worker accidents. It is crucial to consult an experienced worker’s compensation attorney to understand your rights.
The Kentucky workers’ compensation lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer can make sure that your claim is handled correctly and help you stand up against an employer or insurer intent on denying you benefits. Kentucky workers’ compensation rules and regulations are complex. Talk to an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer.
At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, our attorneys have recovered more than $300 million for our hardworking clients in Manchester, Lexington, Manchester, Somerset and elsewhere across Kentucky. If you have a workers’ comp claim because of a work-related injury suffered in a Kentucky manufacturing plant, we have seven conveniently located offices in Kentucky to serve you. Contact us today to set up a free personalized consultation regarding workers’ comp for factory injuries.
Risk of Injuries to Factory Workers in Kentucky
Manufacturing is the transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products at factories, and plants. The manufacturing process is characterized by employees’ use of power-driven machines and materials-handling equipment to perform their jobs.
Manufacturers in Kentucky account for 17 percent of the total output in the state, employing 13 of the workforce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says. About 250,000 manufacturing workers were employed in Kentucky in December 2021.
The Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims says in its 2021-’22 report that the department received 4,750 injury reports from the manufacturing sector, one of the highest number of injuries of any sector of the workforce. The claims resulted in 490 workers’ compensation claims.
10 Common Factory Worker Accidents and Injuries
Among the workplace accidents and injuries that our workers’ comp lawyers often see when pursuing workers’ compensation claims for Kentucky workers are:
- Machinery Accidents: Manufacturing workers can be caught or pulled into machinery or equipment, be crushed between moving parts of machinery, or be electrocuted by faulty wiring or tag-out accidents. The entanglement of fingers, hands, and arms in machinery can lead to crushing and tearing injuries and loss of limbs.
- Slips, Trips, and Falls: Falls are common accidents. Factory workers slip or trip and fall on slippery and cluttered factory floors and fall from heights, such as from ladders or platforms. Serious slip and fall injuries include head injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, back injuries, and spine injuries, which may cause paralysis.
- Overexertion Injuries: Overexertion, whether in a single incident such as from lifting heavy objects or as a wear-and-tear injury caused by repetitive tasks, can cause strains to muscles and other soft tissue. Lower back injuries, the most common worker complaint, are usually caused by overexertion.
- Exposure to Harmful Substances: Contact with certain toxic substances can cause irritation to the skin or eyes and respiratory illness. Absorption or ingestion of sufficient amounts of toxic chemicals may cause severe illness or poisoning. The flammability, corrosion, and reactivity of certain substances can cause traumatic injury.
- Vehicle Accidents: Busy factory floors and loading docks are continually crisscrossed by forklifts and other factory vehicles. Operator error, inattention, or faulty equipment can lead to workers being knocked down or run over. A driver may be injured by colliding with a fixed object or by overturning the vehicle.
- Fire and Explosions: Fire in a factory can cause burn injuries or cause death by asphyxiation or smoke inhalation. The major causes of factory fires are electrical arcing or sparks from tools and machinery, ignition of gasses and chemicals, cutting and welding, smoking, and spontaneous ignition of dust. Burn injuries can require months of specialized treatment in a hospital burn unit and multiple surgeries to address disfiguring scarring.
- Electrocution: Factory workers may suffer fatal electrical shock from exposure to a lethal amount of electricity, such as by contact with live wires, defective equipment or tools, or improper use of extension cords.
- Eye Injuries: An accident that causes an object or small particles to strike and pierce or scrape the eye may cause temporary or permanent vision loss. Cleaning fluids or industrial chemicals that are splashed into workers’ eyes can also cause a loss of vision. Actual loss of an eye is considered facial disfigurement, which qualifies for a separate workers’ compensation stipend.
- Hearing Loss: Loss of hearing is usually a cumulative injury caused by long-term exposure to loud machinery or other noise in a factory. Some injuries to the eardrum can be repaired, by hearing loss due to nerve damage is irreversible.
- Wear-and-Tear Injuries: Cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) is the excessive wear and tear on muscles, tendons, and nerve tissues caused by repetitive motion over an extended period of time. Bending, reaching, stretching, or lifting for several hours every day over a workweek creates “micro-traumas” within the worker’s body. Because of the repetitive nature of the work, the injuries never have the opportunity to heal. Eventually, CTD causes chronic pain and loss of mobility.
A knowledgeable workers’ comp lawyer can review your workplace injury and discuss whether you have a workers’ compensation claim during a free consultation.
How To Prevent a Factory Accident
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 states that employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace. No person should ever have to be injured, become ill, or die for a paycheck.
To make this possible, OSHA’s On-site Consultation Program offers free and confidential advice to small and medium-sized businesses in all states across the country, with priority given to high-hazard worksites. No employer can claim after an accident that they misunderstood hazards at their worksite.
OSHA provides 10 steps for getting a workplace safety program started:
- Establish safety and health as a core value. → Building Your Case For A Safety And Health Program
- Lead by example. → Assign Roles And Responsibilities
- Implement a reporting system. → Reporting Safety And Health Concerns
- Provide training. → Hazard Identification And Control Training
- Conduct inspections. → Inspect The Workplace For Hazards
- Collect hazard control ideas. → Review Hazard Information From Workers
- Implement hazard controls. → Identify Control Options
- Address emergencies. → Identify Potential Emergencies
- Seek input on workplace changes. → Involve Workers In All Aspects Of Your Program
- Make improvements. → Verify Program Operation
What Workers’ Comp Benefits Am I Entitled to After a Factory Injury?
As a full-time or part-time employee, you are entitled to benefits through your employer’s workers’ compensation coverage if you sustain an injury in a workplace accident while performing job duties or because of working conditions. However, your employer or the employer’s workers’ comp insurance company administrator may dispute your eligibility for benefits if you were engaged in horseplay or breaking company rules, and this contributed to the accident or injury.
Workers’ compensation pays for:
- Medical bills connected to an occupational injury, including doctors’ care, surgery, hospital stays, prescription medications, physical therapy, and any other treatment deemed medically necessary to treat your injury or illness.
- Lost wages while you are unable to work because of your injury.
- Temporary or permanent total disability pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage. Temporary total disability ends when the doctor overseeing your medical treatment determines that you have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), which means you have full. Permanent total disability benefits are paid if a worker has a permanent disability rating and is unable to return to work due to a work-related condition.
- Permanent partial disability pays the difference between your wages before and after the accident if your injury or illness prevents you from working a full schedule or performing your regular job duties.
- Money for education or training if you cannot return to your former job but are capable of learning and performing other work.
- A one-time disfigurement benefit is available for certain injuries, such as facial scarring, loss of a limb, or loss of hearing, which is allocated according to the specific injury.
- A death benefit for the spouse and dependents of a factory worker who dies in a work-related accident. The benefit amount depends on the deceased employee’s wages before the accident and the number of dependents. Additionally, if death occurred within four years of the job-related injury, a lump-sum payment is payable to the deceased individual’s estate.
The workers’ compensation system can be confusing if you try to pursue a claim without a workers’ comp injury lawyer to guide you.
Contact Our Kentucky Workers’ Comp Attorneys Today
If you have suffered a disabling injury at your factory job in Kentucky, don’t wait for your workers’ compensation claim to be challenged to call a workers’ compensation attorney. Our Lexington workers’ compensation lawyers at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer know Kentucky workers’ compensation regulations and are skilled at handling workers’ compensation claims. We are ready to help you seek every dime of the workers’ comp benefits provided by Kentucky law. Our law firm offers a free case evaluation to all prospective clients and will work on your case like you’re a member of our family.
If we don’t recover workers’ compensation benefits for you, you will not owe us a fee for our legal assistance. Contact us for a FREE personalized consultation and put Kentucky Courage behind your workers’ comp claim today!
