If you have had an accident at work and think that you have damaged part of your body, you should make sure you are examined as soon as possible. Even if you think you have only bruised your rib in a fall, the bruising may not be the only injury detected. A rib or rib may have fractured and there may be internal organ damaged. You can almost always expect to be able to file for workers’ compensation if you have been injured at work and the injury requires medical treatment and / or time away from work, which could mean a loss in earnings. You cannot obtain compensation if you have not been medically examined. Talk to a workers’ compensation attorney if unsure of your rights. Rib Injuries in a Workplace Accident It is relatively easy to bruise a rib, but to actually fracture or break a rib does require a heavier direct impact, either as a result of a fall or when something heavy falls on you or you are involved in a vehicle accident. There is a fine line between bruising a rib and fracturing it as either of them can result from the same sort of workplace accidents. Which injury occurs depends on the severity of the blow to the chest that caused the injury to the rib. It is difficult for an injured worker to know the difference as a minor fracture may feel the same as a bruise. Generally, a doctor will advise having x-rays taken to be sure of the extent of the damage. Because a bruised rib does need to be examined properly, there will inevitably be costs involved and there will be time needed off work, too. The time taken to recover will depend on the advice from the medical specialist as well as the type of job normally done. The Workers’ Compensation Process After a Bruised Rib Injury at Work There is an established procedure involved in filing a claim for workers’ compensation. Each state adopts slightly different rules, but basically there is a broad similarity. Your injury must happen while at work, but you don’t need to prove that your employer was at fault. The injury may have been your fault, but this shouldn’t affect compensation unless you deliberately injured yourself. You will need to let your employer know quite quickly about the injury and make sure you complete details in your employer’s accident report file. File your claim within the allotted time limit with the correct body, most likely your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance provider. Cost of a Cracked Rib Cracked rib injuries are typically caused at work by falls from a height or when something heavy falls unexpectedly on top of an employee’s torso. The main danger of a cracked rib injury is that one or more of the ribs protrudes inwards and punctures a lung or damages the heart or a major blood vessel. The full cost of a cracked rib injury in a workers’ compensation claim will depend on the exact nature and severity of the injury, how much medical treatment is needed to deal with it, how long is needed for full recovery, if full recovery is actually possible and the estimated costs of future medical treatment, if needed. To break down these individual cost components more clearly, the factors below must be considered. The final cost of the cracked rib injury will be a combination of some or all of the factors described. Cost of an Ambulance Emergency services may have been used to take the injured employee to a hospital. This cost must be included in the claim. Doctor’s Assessment and Reports If injured, a doctor would first have to examine the injury, assess the severity and prognosis and then advise what treatment should be provided. In an emergency situation, the visit to a regular doctor may be bypassed if major organs have been compromised by the fractured ribs. Tests and Medication There will be X-rays taken and possibly further tests if there is potential soft tissue damage. The X-rays will determine just how bad the bone fractures are and whether they can heal without further surgery. Medication will probably be prescribed for relieving pain and preventing infection, especially if the external skin surface has been ruptured. Surgery Surgery may be needed if the fractured ribs are broken off inside the torso and are potentially capable of penetrating organs. It may be used to ‘set’ the ends of the ribs where they are fractured or operate on internal damage. Lost Earnings The cost of the days absent from work, until advised to return to normal duties, is typically calculated according to a formula that is determined by the state. It tends to work out at about two thirds of what might have been earned for that period if there hadn’t been an injury. Estimated Future Expenses Most cracked rib injuries eventually heal, but there may be a cost involved if there are likely to be complications following recovery. If the employee is not able to return to exactly the same job, or even if he / she cannot work at all, then this will need to be included in the claim. Average Cracked Rib Settlement Each cracked rib settlement will be unique and there is no easy way of calculating what might be offered by your employer’s insurer. More important is to make sure you have every cost documented carefully and completely so it is taken into consideration. The more evidence you have available that can be submitted with the claim, the harder it will be for the insurer to ignore it when calculating a payment. The easiest component of a WC claim to calculate is compensation for lost wages. For a construction worker who normally earns $30 an hour, compensation would be calculated at an average of two thirds of this amount, i.e. $20 an hour for the period off work from the date of the accident to the date of a return to work. Use a Workers' Compensation Attorney at Any Stage of the Claim Process A workers’ compensation attorney know the state rules that might affect you and ensure you have the right sort of documentation to support your claim, such as medical reports and invoices for payments you have already made for treatment. The attorney can also be of great help if your claim is denied. You may be able to appeal, but this can be a difficult and protracted process without help on your side. Fill out the Free Case Evaluation to be connected with an attorney to review your case. Additional Resources Cracked Ribs and Workers' Compensation Top Tips for Applying for Workers’ Comp. With a Bruised Rib What Makes an Injury Work Related?
