Subscribe To This Site

Common Industrial Injury

If you have suffered an industrial injury whilst working within the United Kingdom there are a few ways to claim benefits for the financial difficulty you may find yourself experiencing.

An example of this is to make a claim for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit which you can do if you are unable to work for a period of over two months due to the nature of your injury.

The same benefit can be claimed if you are suffering from one of the many recognised "prescribed diseases" associated with your kind of work. However, this article will concentrate on some of the industrial injuries for which a compensation claim may be made.

industrial disease suffered in the work place

Industrial Deafness

If you are working in a regularly noisy environment where you are afforded little if any protection from the noise levels you may suffer from industrial deafness.

Your local Benefits Office can supply you with a list of prescribed occupations in which you must have been employed for a minimum of ten years in order to make such a claim for industrial injuries disablement benefit.

The result of your arranged hearing test which is part of making your claim will have to show a loss of hearing in each ear of no less than fifty decibels which reflects the level of damage caused to the inner ear and this harm, in one ear at least, has to have been caused by the noise conditions you have worked with.

You have a time limit of five years after leaving the employment responsible for your condition to make your claim for benefits.

Vibration White Finger

When you have been using certain kinds of power tools within your employment a constant vibration is transmitted down your arms to your hands and fingers exposing you to hand-arm vibration (otherwise known as HAVS).

This can eventually have an affect on your nerves and blood vessels, along with your muscles and joints. If this condition is ignored it may cause disablement of a severe nature.

The affected fingers suffer with an extremely painful condition called vibration white finger which is particularly apparent during cold and wet weather conditions.

The finger, as indicated by the name of the condition, first turns white and then red as the blood begins to flow again, inflicting an intense pain as the fingers recover.

In severe cases the lack of sensation in your hands could become permanent and eventually it is possible that you will not have any feeling in your fingers at all.

Vibrations at less constant and lower levels can cause a disorder of the nervous system called carpal tunnel syndrome which is an industrial injury resulting in a weakness when using the hand, and tingling and numbness may also be experienced.

Tendonitis or Tenosynovitis

The symptoms experienced with this industrial injury include a painful tenderness and/or swelling of part of the tendon.

The surrounding skin may be inflamed which is likely to restrict the movements of this particular part of your body.

More often than not the condition only lasts for a few days then disappears of its own accord but occasionally it lasts a lot longer than this and if not treated in the correct way can become a long term complaint.

The areas of the body most prone to be affected by tendon problems are the wrist and hand as they are used more regularly, but it is true to say any tendon can be cursed with this industrial injury.