The modern urban landscape is designed with many disabilities in mind. Nearly every sidewalk corner features a curb cut for those with limited mobility. Most downtown crosswalks and intersections have auditory cues for the visually impaired. The newest mass transit buses have digital readouts for each stop, an aid to the hard of hearing. The commonness of these disabilities makes urban assistive technology a necessity; but, as Toronto personal injury lawyers can attest, there are other disabilities, perhaps even more common though usually milder, that are far less visible in our society. As a neck injury attorney knows, these are workplace injuries, and, if inadequately addressed, they can have a devastating impact on people’s livelihoods.
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
The group of soft tissue injuries—or injuries to muscle, tendons, ligaments, joints, or nerves—known as musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common injuries in Canada. When these injuries are either triggered or significantly worsened by work activities, they’re known as work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). WMSDs initiate the majority of compensatory payments, with the highest levels of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary costs. But despite their commonality and cost, the incidence rate for WMSDs is increasing. How can we decrease both the frequency of these injuries themselves and the financial burden they represent?
Clinical and Administrative Courses
In terms of societal analysis, there are two ways to measure the impact of a WMSD: clinical course and administrative course. As we will see, both have different interpretive value, and both are important to address.
- Clinical Course
- The more intuitive of the two, clinical course refers to the extent of the injury, from diagnosis to recovery, as observed by a medical professional. Start time and end time for clinical course can be rather nebulous. While the start date can be precise (as in the case of injuries due to a discrete accident), many sufferers do not report chronic pain until up to a month after experiencing symptoms. End date can also be difficult to quantify, since recovery is a vague concept: perhaps your back becomes healthy enough for you to return to work, but you still have some nagging pain, for instance. Nonetheless, clinical course is our best measure for studying treatment and prevention.
- Administrative Course
- This measures the length of time during which a WMSD sufferer receives wage-replacement benefits or other compensatory credit. While the downside of this measure is that it essentially ignores the actual physical issue, it is easily quantifiable and thus helpful for gathering financial information.
By combining these two measures, a neck injury attorney, or any professional committed to limiting the impact of WMSDs, can find the best treatment for you. For instance, 90% of patients in a hospital or treatment centre recover in the first four weeks or less, but only 50% – 60% will have wage replacement during that same period. A Toronto personal injury law firm lawyer can help providing you with support and knowledge while making sure you receive the compensation you need.
Source:
http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/rcwc/research/hogg-johnson-interventions.pdf