The best thing is to avoid a work-related injury. But, if you suffer an injury and find yourself in the workers compensation system, you need to make sure you understand how to get the medical treatment and weekly benefits you need to recover from your injury and move on with your life.
What types of injuries occur in chicken plants?
Many different types of injuries occur in chicken plants. These injuries can affect every part of your body. Some of the common types of injuries include the following:
Injuries to the back, neck, and shoulders from heavy lifting
Carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive use injuries from performing repetitive activity with the arms and hands
Crush injuries to the arms and legs from equipment in the chicken plant
Amputations of the hands and feet from cutting tools and other equipment used to process the chicken
Injuries from slipping and falling on slick floors or items dropped on the floor
These are not the only types of injuries that occur. There are other dangers in a chicken plant as well. With limited exceptions, workers compensation in Georgia generally covers any work-related injury that you suffer while working in a chicken plant.
What benefits should the workers compensation insurance company pay after a chicken plant injury?
Georgia workers compensation law provides three basic types of benefits. Those benefits are:
Each of these benefits is very important. If you suffer an injury to your back from lifting heavy boxes, you will probably not be able to return to your regular job at the chicken plant doing that heavy lifting. If your injury keeps you from working, Georgia workers compensation pays you a weekly benefit for that wage loss.
All injuries require some sort of medical treatment. Because of this, it is very important that workers compensation covers the medical treatment and testing you need for your injury. This treatment allows you to recover from your injury.
Hopefully, medical treatment will allow you to recover one hundred percent. But, some serious injuries result in you having some permanent impairment. Permanent partial disability benefits provide some compensation for you if you have a permanent impairment as a result of your injury.
Can I choose my own doctor to provide treatment for my injury?
The two most common situations where you can choose your own doctor are:
When your employer or their workers compensation insurance company denies your whole claim and refuses to provide medical treatment
When your employer does not follow the rules and properly post a panel of physicians
It is very important to understand the rules about what doctor you can see. If you see doctors that you are not authorized to see, you may end up having to pay the bill even if the treatment you receive was for your injury.
What happens if my workers compensation injury prevents me from returning to work?
If your injury keeps you from returning to work, you should receive the workers compensation wage loss benefits mentioned above. One of the main benefits of workers compensation is that it pays you a benefit if you are out of work as a result of your injury.
Work in a chicken plant is very physically demanding labor. Serious injuries often make it very difficult to return to that type of work. It is very important to understand what benefits you should receive and if there is anything you can do to prevent your benefits from getting reduced or stopped.
Will the insurance company make sure I receive all the benefits I should?
I wish I could say that an insurance company will make sure and pay you all the benefits you receive. Unfortunately, it is not really in their interest to do that.
Your case costs the insurance company money. They are a business that wants to make money. The more money that they spend on your case and other workers compensation cases, the less money they make.
So, insurance companies are not going to make sure you receive all the benefits you should. Instead, it is in there interests to get the workers compensation doctor to say you have recovered from your injury and do not need any more medical treatment. You may need to make sure you have someone on your side looking out for your interests.
What if I have other questions about workers compensation?
Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing. You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.
If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers. To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.
Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers. He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.
To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.