Caring With Our Clients, Fierce With The Insurance Companies
According to its official website, the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission is a no-fault system of benefits paid by employers to workers who experience work-related injuries or diseases. In other words, the IWCC is a public institution acting as an intermediary between workers at risk of injury and employers at risk of liability for those injuries. IWCC performs three primary functions…
The range of claimable injuries and diseases under workers’ compensation in Illinois is diverse. While injuries with external, immediate effects, such as musculoskeletal injuries, are perhaps the most obvious, diseases with internal, delayed effects, such as respiratory diseases, can be equally devastating and eligible for claims under workers’ compensation law. Like all work-related injuries and illnesses, claims for respiratory diseases…
According to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, the question of whether a worker can collect workers’ compensation for an old injury is one of both time and definition. First, time is a potentially disqualifying condition for workers’ compensation cases in Illinois. Specifically, the amount of time that passes between the occurrence of a workplace-related injury and the execution of administrative…
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, warehouses are among the most prevalent sites for work-related injuries. Twenty-five percent of these injuries occur at loading docks. Furthermore, 16 percent of injuries occurring at loading docks, in Illinois and across the United States, are strain injuries. Strain injuries are categorized as musculoskeletal disorders, which consist of damage to the body’s joints,…
The cumulative effect of injuries incurred by Illinois workers can be unpredictable. In some cases, the effect is immediate and the recovery following treatment is permanent. In other cases, the effect intensifies later or recovery following treatment is only temporary. These latter cases present challenges for recipients of workers’ compensation awarded on the basis of the original effect of their…
Construction workers face a high risk of injury relative to other professions. According to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction site accidents are a significant contributor to both fatal and nonfatal injuries for workers in Illinois and across the United States. The risk of injury to construction workers may be evaluated in the context of both fatal…
Alcohol plays a role in many preventable car accidents that occur each year in Illinois and nationwide. The extent of this issue, however, still remains unclear as studies show that alcohol is often underreported in car accident cases. This misrepresentation of information may compromise the efforts of law enforcement and other officials to effectively combat the problem of drinking and…
The sheer size and weight of a tractor trailer alone is enough to pose a danger to Illinois motorists on the road. However, when essential equipment on a massive vehicle is not working properly, there is an increased chance that the big rig may cause a devastating truck accident. Just as in any other moving vehicle, trucks rely on a…
Using a bicycle for transportation and recreation has become more common throughout the Chicago area in recent years. Despite cyclists’ increased exposure and the popularity of the sport, motorists still often fail to look for them when they are out on the roads. This can lead to serious, life-threatening collisions where the cyclist is the one most likely to be…
Exposure to excessive heat is a serious danger for people who work outdoors. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 423 American workers died from heat illness during the years 1992 through 2006. The combination of hot weather, heavy protective clothing, hard physical labor, and bulky equipment can make some professions such as firefighting especially hazardous. All…