3 Key Questions About Railroad Worker Injuries

As you may know through painful personal experience, railroads can serve as particularly hazardous workplaces. Injuries can and do impact railroad employees, in many cases destroying their ability to earn a living or resulting in enormous expenses. The federal compensation claim process can add to the frustration.

If you find yourself unable to work facing tremendous losses related to a railroad-related medical challenge, you need to understand how the government handles compensation claims and what you must do to optimize your chances of getting that compensation. Check out these three key questions about railroad worker injuries.

1. What Injuries and Illnesses Can Railroad Workers Sustain?

Railroad workers can sustain many kinds of injuries on the job. In addition to acute burns, traumatic brain injuries, and debilitating spinal damage, these employees can develop chronic injuries from cumulative influences such as vibrations, repetitive motion strain, and constant walking.

Chronic illnesses can also stem from railroad work. For instance, lead exposure can leave railroad employees with kidney, nerve, heart, or reproductive disorders. Hearing loss, lung disease, and cancer can result from exposure to other work-related hazards.

Financial compensation claims for railroad worker injuries generally revolve around a few basic categories. These categories include traumatic injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and occupational diseases as well as any injuries or diseases that aggravated a pre-existing condition.

2. How Do You File a Compensation Claim?

Individuals who work for a local or state organization would normally file a state workers’ compensation claim if they experience an illness or injury in the course of their duties. However, since railroads and railroad work crosses state lines, the federal government handles such claims through the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA).

You have three years from the date the injury occurred to file a FELA claim. Since you might not realize right away that you suffered a work-related injury, the law starts this three-year countdown from the date you actually discovered that you had an injury most likely caused by your railroad work or workplace.

Submit an injury report to your employer and receive the appropriate medical attention as quickly as possible. At the same time, also keep your own set of records about your symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, enforced absenteeism, and various damages so your attorney can evaluate and use this information.

3. What Claim Challenges Might You Encounter?

Workers’ compensation generally poses fewer challenges to its claimants than the FELA process does to railroad employees. Unlike workers’ compensation, which simply requires that the injury or illness occur in the workplace, FELA requires claimants to show that negligence on the part of the railroad company caused the problem.

Railroad company negligence tends to take one of a few common forms. The company may have failed in its duty of care to you by not providing sufficient human assistance to do the job safely, or it may have failed to provide proper tools and equipment. Inadequate employee training and safety rule failures can also establish negligence.

Even if you provided all the necessary details to support your claim and filed the claim within the appropriate time frame, you may still encounter difficulties in getting your compensation. The railroad may drag its feet about investigating and paying your claim, and you may need to pursue legal action with the aid of your attorney.

If you struggle with an injury sustained on the job as a railroad worker, you need skilled legal assistance to help you get the results you seek instead of running into seemingly insurmountable roadblocks. The Law Office of Paul R. Bennett has the necessary expertise to represent you in this area of personal injury law. Contact our office today.