Construction workers often face the most dangerous working conditions compared to other industries. Despite regulations, job safety programs, and inspections at the job site, serious construction site accidents resulting in injury happen all too frequently.

Falls from scaffolds and other elevations, being struck by moving or falling machinery or equipment, electrocution, and injuries caused by unsafe or defective equipment are all hazards construction workers may have to contend with while performing their jobs.

Not only is the risk for accidents high, construction workers may experience health problems as a direct result of exposure to asbestos, dust and chemicals and they may have their ability to earn a living impacted by injuries resulting from lifting and other repetitive stress injuries.

Contact an Iowa Construction Worker Accidents Lawyer

If you are injured on the job, it is important to seek the help of an experienced construction worker accidents lawyer to ensure that you get all the workers compensation benefits you need. In some circumstances, you may pursue a third party liability claim as well. Contact the Des Moines, Iowa workers’ compensation Law Offices of John T. Hemminger at 515-283-2116 for immediate assistance if you or a family member is suffering from a workplace injury.

Iowa workplace injuries are all too common. Many construction workers, agricultural workers and those working in manufacturing occupations get injured while performing their jobs.

If you have been injured at work you may be entitled to workers’ compensation medical benefits. If eligible, all reasonable and necessary medical care and associated travel to treat your injury must be paid for by the employer. If you miss work to seek treatment, you may also receive payment for lost wages.

Disability benefits are payable for temporary total disability (TTD), temporary partial disability (TPD), healing periods (HP), permanent partial disability (PPD), scheduled member, body as a whole, and permanent total disability (PTD).

Your total weekly workers’ compensation benefit may not be greater than 80 percent of your spendable earnings, or gross weekly earning minus payroll taxes. Your average gross weekly earnings, number of income tax exemptions and marital status, determine your weekly disability benefit amount not to exceed set limits.

If you have been injured at work, medical costs and missed work can add up quickly. The Iowa workers’ compensation benefits for work injuries law offices of John T. Hemminger represents Iowans who have sustained workplace injuries ranging from head or neck, shoulders, back or hips and bilateral injuries to repetitive stress injuries and pre-existing injuries that were exacerbated in the workplace. We will pursue your workers’ compensation benefits and third-party claims to get the benefits you need today.

According to surveys by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are tens of thousands of back and other injuries among nursing employees every year. Many of these injuries are severe enough that an employee must miss work or have to give up working altogether.

It may come as some surprise that nursing assistants and orderlies each suffer roughly three times the rate of back and other musculoskeletal injuries as construction laborers. In fact, BLS data reflects that nurses and nursing assistants suffer from more MSD injuries than any other occupation.

The number one reason why nursing employees get these injuries is by doing their everyday jobs of moving and lifting patients. Lacking proper lifting machinery or adequate staff, healthcare workers risk injury when helping patients get in and out of bed, particularly if the patient is among the growing number who suffer from obesity. Nursing employees in a typical hospital lift heavy patients a dozen or more times every day, some of whom weigh in at 300 lbs. or more.

Despite the growing problem, little action has been taken by hospitals and clinics across the country to protect healthcare workers from these types of back and neck injuries. Although some states are providing a legal means for healthcare workers to push back, injuries of healthcare professionals persist in many hospitals and clinics nationwide. Unfortunately, for healthcare workers across the country, these injuries are not mere inconveniences – they are often life altering and career ending.

Contact an Experienced Iowa Nursing and Healthcare Back Injury Attorney

If you work in the medical industry and have been injured at work, contact the Iowa workers’ compensation and personal injury law offices of John T. Hemminger for help today. If you have been hurt at your Iowa workplace, you may be eligible for compensation to aid in your recovery and cover your lost wages. Call us today for a free consultation at 515-283-2116.

Electrocution is a recognized hazard for construction workers and tree crews. According to OSHA, the major types of hazards for those working in these industries are contact with overhead power lines, contact with energized sources (e.g., vehicles, live parts, damaged or bare wires, defective equipment, machinery or tools) and improper use of extension and flexible cords.

Overhead and buried power lines are especially hazardous because they carry extremely high voltage. Fatalities from electrocution are possible as are burns and falls from elevations when workers are exposed to high voltage. Not only do cranes reach overhead power lines, but so do many high profile vehicles and workers on ladders or in man-baskets.

When employers fail to adopt or follow safety protocols and training is not regularly provided, construction workers and tree crews are at increased risk of injury from electrocution. Employers are required by law to provide safe and healthful working conditions for their employees and must act to prevent workplace accidents.

Iowa Workplace Electrocution Accidents Attorneys

If you or your family member has been injured in an Iowa workplace electrocution accident, contact the personal injury and workers’ compensation attorneys at The Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for free consultation at 515-283-2116.

If you are injured at work, it is only natural that you want to see your own doctor for medical care. Most people are more comfortable going to a doctor they are familiar with and that they trust.

Unfortunately, when you are dealing with Iowa workers’ compensation, the employer has the right to choose the medical provider you will use when you are injured or become ill at work.

By law, the employer must provide prompt and reasonable care without posing a major inconvenience to the employee, however, this does not include a visit to the physician of your choice.

In exchange for seeking treatment from an approved provider, all of your medical expenses related to your injury should be paid for by the employer. If the employee is injured on the job and is treated by a doctor not approved by the employer, the medical bills may not be paid.

Can I Change Doctors Under Workers’ Compensation?

There are circumstances where an injured worker may be able to change providers or even select their own doctor. This may occur when:

• The care is not appropriate, insufficient or lacks quality to treat your injury or illness.
• The doctor is not reasonably suited to treat your injury or illness. It may be that a doctor that specializes in your type of injury or illness may be a better fit than the assigned doctor.
• You have been improperly diagnosed or the treatment is incorrect.
• The provider is located too far a distance from your home or place of employment.

It is not uncommon for a worker to want to switch providers when they are not being cared for properly by a competent provider. You may be able to change providers by filing an alternate medical care application with the workers’ compensation commission which will result in a hearing where you and your attorney can explain why a change is necessary. Sometimes a change in provider can make all the difference in your recovery.
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Contact a Des Moines Iowa Workers’ Compensation LawyerIf you have been injured at work, the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys of John T. Hemminger Law Firm can help you obtain the appropriate care for your work injury or illness. Call our Des Moines workers’ compensation law offices today at 515-283-2116 for a free initial consultation of your workers’ compensation or personal injury concerns.

Most lower back injuries involve people who do physical labor. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, manual materials handling is the principal source of workers’ compensation injuries in our nation’s work force, with four out of five of these injuries affecting the lower back.

Common injuries include lower back strain; bulging, herniated and slipped discs; fractured vertebrae; and pinched nerves. Most of these injuries are caused by over extension from heavy lifting, pulling and pushing.

Workers who hurt their back on the job may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Because back injuries can be very painful and require extended treatment and recovery periods, benefits typically cover the costs of needed medical care and may provide periods of paid disability so that a worker can recover from an injury.

If a back injury is diagnosed as a temporary partial disability, a worker may resume employment duties after a recovery period. If a worker suffers a permanent partial disability, he or she may be assigned a different position upon returning to work to accommodate the disability. Those who suffer a permanent total disability will not be able to return to work and may be eligible for extended benefits.

If you or a family member has been injured at work, contact our Des Moines Iowa workers’ compensation attorneys to assist you with your workers’ comp claim. When you are injured it is important to get the maximum benefits allowed so that you can work toward recovery. Our experienced workers’ compensation lawyers have worked with many injured Iowa workers to help them get the benefits they need when they are injured on the job. Call today at 515-283-2116.

Iowa Legislature is currently reviewing House File 518, with companion Senate File 435, which, if passed will herald in significant changes to Iowa Workers’ Compensation.

Proposed reductions in benefits, particularly to those who are 67 and older, are the most troubling for may workers:

• The standard for a compensable injury would change under the proposed law. In basic terms, work injuries would have to be a “predominant factor” in causing a disability – as in more than 50 percent – for benefits to be paid. This would replace the more general “probable cause” standard.
• Shoulder injuries, a common injury in construction and manufacturing, are currently categorized as potential industrial injury disabilities with compensation based on 500 weeks. Under the proposed law, a shoulder injury would become a scheduled injury limited to 250 weeks.
• The proposed law regarding remaining industrial injury disabilities will take into account the years a worker would have remained in the work force or age of retirement at the time of the injury to make a benefit determination versus a more open-ended approach.

Older workers may be looking at some changes to benefits if the proposed changes succeed.

• Employees age 67 or up receiving permanent partial disability benefits for body-as-a-whole injuries, will be limited to no more that 150 weeks of compensation under the proposal. Employees who receive permanent total disability benefits may continue until they are no longer permanently or totally disabled or until they reach the age of 67. Injuries sustained after the age of 67 would be payable up to 150 weeks only.

As of now, the bills are still under review. However, if passed, they would represent the most substantial changes in Iowa Workers’ Compensation in decades and will undoubtedly impact Iowa workers and their families.

If you have been injured at work, contact the Law Offices of John T. Hemmingerfor assistance with your workers’ compensation or personal injury claim. Our team has helped many injured Iowans get the compensation they are entitled to when they have been injured on the job. Call today at 515-283-2116.

At a recent public hearing, Iowans split on proposed changes to the Iowa workers’ compensation law, with 17 speakers supporting the changes and 16 opposing.

House File 518 and Senate File 435 seeks to end worker benefits at age 67, reduce benefits for injuries related to pre-existing conditions, limit late fees for employers who fail to pay benefits on time and cap attorneys’ fees when injured employees seek legal help to get their benefits paid.

Among those in favor of the bills are business owners who say the insurance premiums are becoming too expensive and that the current Iowa workers’ compensation law is vulnerable to exploitation. Many voiced concerns over the rising cost of litigation brought by injured employees when their coverage is denied.

Those who oppose the bill say passage of the new law would be very disadvantageous to workers that are injured on the job. Many feel that employers should not only improve workplace safety so workers do not get injured in the first place, but that employers have an obligation to take care of their injured workers by paying benefits on time and approving needed medical care so that employees can work toward recovery.

If you have been denied workers’ compensation benefits, contact the workers’ compensation law offices of John T. Hemminger for help. Our attorneys will aggressively pursue the benefits that you are entitled to when you are injured on the job. Call today 515-283-2116.

Despite complaints about the costs, employers are paying the lowest rates for workers’ compensation benefits insurance than at any time in the past 25 years, even as costs of health care have skyrocketed. Although insurance carriers have reduced their rates to employers, it has resulted in workers receiving fewer benefits when they are injured on the job. Many of those injured have to fight an uphill battle to get medical care and lost wages when they need it the most. Some wonder if getting a workers’ compensation lawyer to help them navigate the process would be beneficial. In many cases, the answer is yes. Having a knowledgeable and experienced advocate often results in obtaining maximum benefits from insurers focused on the bottom line.

Denied Medical Treatment by Workers’ Compensation Insurer

From calculating your weekly benefit to obtaining the needed medical care, a workers’ comp attorney can hold your insurer accountable. Sometimes a worker may encounter a situation where an insurer denies recommended treatments or medications made by an authorized doctor. This is in conflict with the insurer’s responsibility to provide what the doctor prescribes. Getting the help of an experienced workers’ comp attorney to take on the insurance company can make the difference.

Don’t Get Short Changed By Quick Settlements

If you have had a significant injury or illness at work, insurance companies will be motivated to settle your claim. However, without experienced legal representation, you will likely be compensated for a quarter of what your case is actually worth. If they can get away with it, insurance companies will try to save money. Therefore, it is best practice to seek the advice of a workers’ comp lawyer before you accept an offer to make sure you are getting what you are entitled to.

Contact an Experienced Des Moines Iowa Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

The labor department recently acknowledged that injured workers are falling into poverty because workers’ compensation benefits are not meeting their needs. To avoid the pitfalls many injured workers stumble upon when seeking benefits, it is very important to ‘get it right’ with the help of an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer. Contact the Law Offices of John T. Hemminger for help if you have been injured at work or have been denied workers’ compensation. John has a 30-year, successful track record of getting his clients the benefits they need from insurers when they are injured. Email or call our Des Moines offices today for help 515-283-2116.

Nail gun injuries are one of the leading causes of injury in the construction industry. Injuries to the hands and fingers are most common, with one-fourth of those injuries involving structural damage to the tendons, nerves, joints, or bones. Severe nail gun injuries have even resulted in construction worker deaths.

An estimated 37,000 people visit the emergency room with nail gun injures every year. Sixty percent of those injuries are work-related and about two thirds of all work-related nail gun accidents occur when construction workers are doing framing and sheathing work or roofing and exterior siding.

Many nail gun accidents can be avoided in the workplace if employers provide training, establish nail gun work procedures, provide personal protective equipment and use full sequential trigger guns instead of contact trigger guns. Unfortunately, many accidents happen when construction workers aren’t wearing proper protective equipment or when they are not given the training that they need to work with the gun.

OSHA has safety standards to hold contractors and employers accountable. If these rules and standards are not followed, and workers get hurt as a result, damages may be payable. As with most work injuries, workers’ compensation may be payable to compensate you for your medical care and missed work. If you have been injured at work, contact the workers’ compensation, personal injury law offices of John T. Hemminger for help at 515-283-2116 or email us through our website at iowa-injury.com. John has helped many Iowa workers get the benefits they need when they are injured at work.