Hurt on the Job?

Most workers’ compensation claims in South Carolina stem from single-event physical traumas, with many occurring in traditionally non-hazardous work environments. Common workplace injuries leading to potential South Carolina workers’ compensation benefits include over-exertion (lifting, pushing, etc.), falls, machinery accidents, and being struck by objects. Auto accidents, even non-professional, qualify if work-related.

To receive workers’ comp for an illness, referred to as an “occupational disease” the illness must be:

• Caused directly by your work duties
• A condition not considered an “ordinary disease of life,” like a cold or flu
• Unrelated to the outside climate
• Transmitted by someone other than a colleague
• Unrelated to your joints

Some illnesses also have specific requirements to be eligible for workers’ comp. For example, if your occupational disease affects your heart or lungs, the sickness must result from exposure to a harmful substance at work.

Many work-related injuries are caused by gradual damage to the body over time. These kinds of injuries can arise when workers repeat the same motion over and over, or through the slow build-up of bodily trauma from different work activities. Repetitive trauma injuries can be as serious and debilitating as injuries from a single traumatic event.

Psychological problems brought on by exceptionally stressful workplace events can support a claim for workers’ comp benefits under certain circumstances. South Carolina law requires claimants who have suffered mental injuries with no accompanying physical injuries to show that the conditions that caused the mental injury were “extraordinary and unusual in comparison to the normal conditions of the particular employment.” They must also prove causation with medical evidence.