Q. Where there is no single traumatic injury that brought on the symptoms, workers will often wonder if there is a workers' compensation claim.

 

A. In Iowa, repetitive or cumulative injury claims are compensable and no one specific event causing injury is required to make a workers' compensation claim. Many injuries come on gradually. This is particularly true of shoulder and back injuries in the trucking industry and neck and back injuries in most any heavy manual labor activity. Even light manual labor that is done repetitively has been linked to degenerative changes that eventually become symptomatic.

            Often the underlying damage is caused by work and some activity outside of work makes the condition even more symptomatic. For example, a person may have recurrent back symptoms at work and then the disc could rupture through some non-work activity. This may still be a valid workers' compensation claim.

            The key question is whether the work activity was a substantial factor in bringing about the need for medical care, the restrictions, or the disability.

            If you have to miss time from work due to a condition you reasonably believe is caused from work activities you should notify your employer immediately and ask your physician if it is related to the work activity.

            This is an area where the time limits for giving notice and filing a claim can become complicated since there is no specific injury date. It is therefore advisable to contact an attorney of your choice immediately if you believe that work activity has caused symptoms and there is no specific injury that brought them on.