Your hands are your most-used tools at work. A hand injury doesn’t just hurt. It can affect your ability to do your current job and potentially impact your entire career. In Queens, workers in manufacturing, construction, food preparation, healthcare, and transportation face hand injuries regularly. At Bangel, Cohen & Falconetti, our team helps injured Queens workers secure the workers’ compensation benefits they’re entitled to after hand injuries on the job.
Why Hand Injuries Are So Common in Queens Industries
The types of work common throughout Queens put hands directly in harm’s way. Hand injuries frequently occur because of:
- Machinery with moving parts that can catch or crush
- Power tools that malfunction or slip during operation
- Sharp materials or cutting equipment in construction and food service
- Repetitive gripping, twisting, or pinching over a long shift
- Caught in accidents involving conveyor belts or industrial equipment
Serious Hand Injuries That Qualify for Workers’ Comp
Hand injuries range from cuts and bruises to severe, permanent damage. Workers’ comp covers a wide range, including:
- Lacerations and puncture wounds requiring stitching or surgical repair
- Crush injuries that damage bones, tendons, and nerves simultaneously
- Fractured fingers, knuckles, or bones of the hand
- Amputations or partial amputations of fingers
- Nerve damage causing permanent loss of feeling or grip strength
- Tendon injuries that permanently limit the range of motion
Proving Your Hand Injury Is Work-Related
Insurance companies sometimes argue that hand injuries happened outside of work, or that pre-existing conditions are the real cause. Documenting exactly when, where, and how the injury occurred matters from the very beginning.
Tell your supervisor what happened right away. See a doctor and describe the incident in detail. If there were witnesses, their accounts could support your claim. Our firm helps pull together the documentation that makes your case harder to dismiss. We also make sure that any independent medical examination requested by the insurer doesn’t go unchallenged if the findings don’t accurately reflect your condition.
Having our Queens workers’ comp attorneys in your corner before those exams happen can make a real difference in how your claim is evaluated and what you ultimately receive.
What Compensation Can Cover After a Hand Injury
Your medical treatment, including surgery, therapy, and any assistive devices, must be covered by your employer’s insurance. If the injury results in a permanent partial disability, you may be entitled to a scheduled loss of use award.
New York has a specific schedule for hand and finger injuries. The number of weeks of compensation you’re entitled to depends on which body part is affected and the extent of the loss of use, and this calculation matters significantly to your outcome.
Helping Queens Workers Get Back What They Lost
A hand injury can affect your livelihood in ways that last long after initial treatment ends. Our Queens workers’ comp lawyers work to make sure that Queens workers who’ve suffered hand injuries receive full medical coverage, wage replacement during recovery, and any permanent disability benefits they’re entitled to under New York law.
Ready to learn more? Call 718-446-4400 or contact us online today.
