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Connecticut workplace illness more frequent than U.S. average

For some jobs in Connecticut, the work and its environment lends itself to a higher risk to suffer from workplace illness. Workers might be aware of the dangers they face, but are willing to endure the risks and eschew the fear of long-term effects to do their jobs. In other instances, they’re not aware of the dangers. In Connecticut, studies have shown that although there are improvements being made when it comes to worker safety, there is still a higher than average number of people who suffer from work-related illness.

In the time from 2011 to 2012, for every 10,000 people, the number who suffered workplace illness in Connecticut declined 21 percent in the year 2012 as opposed to 2011. That may sound like a lot, but it is still higher than the number of people who suffer workplace illness across the nation. In Connecticut, the total percentage per 10,000 people was 21.9 percent while across the United States, it was 20.2 percent.

There was an increase in people who were found to have hearing or respiratory problems, but there was a decline in cancer, musculoskeletal issues and allergies. Even with the decline of musculoskeletal issues, that was still the highest number of work-related illness reported. It was found to be one-third of them to as high as half of them. Eight to 11 percent of the workplace illnesses were respiratory in nature. People with skin conditions were between five and 21 percent. The differences in data stemmed from the different sources that were used to account for the totals.

While some jobs are more dangerous for workers to become ill than others, that doesn’t mean that the workers who decide to do those jobs don’t have any rights to be compensated if they suffer long-term effects from their vocational choice. Many people who grow sick from the work they do might not realize that illnesses can be eligible for compensation just as injuries are. With a workplace illness, there might be hefty medical expenses and an inability to continue working the number of hours that were worked before, if the person can work at all. Any person who suffers from a workplace illness may want to discuss the matter with an experienced attorney to find out their legal options.

Source: Safety+Health, “Connecticut workplace illnesses down, but still higher than average,” Accessed on Oct. 4, 2014

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36-year-old laborer for landscaping company fractured wrist when fellow employee hit him with truck. Claimant received in excess of $30,000 in workers’ compensation benefits for total disability and medical expenses and settled with automobile insurance company for fellow employee for $95,000.

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