Treating and Evaluating Your Workers' Injuries

by Kevin Smith Author

You maintain a safe workplace, but injuries happen. You need a medical facility that will treat your employee's orthopedic injury and get the employee back to work as soon as medically possible. Workers' compensation in Atlanta can be costly, but a good orthopedic facility can keep lost time due to work-related injuries to a minimum.

Work-Related Injuries

Whether you run a roofing business, a warehouse, a factory, or a retail store, your employees may suffer orthopedic work-related injuries:

Working on a concrete floor can cause plantar fasciitis of the feet.
Carpal tunnel can develop over time from repetitive hand motions.
A worker can tear a ligament in his or her knee while getting in and out of a truck or climbing stairs.
An employee, who performs overhead work, can tear his or her rotator cuff.
Bending and lifting can result in a herniated disc.

Evaluation

A proper evaluation of the worker's injury is critical to a speedy recovery. An orthopedic specialist will diagnose the employee's condition and let you know if the injury resulted from the employee's job. The doctor will let you know if the employee can perform light-duty work and when the employee will be able to return to his or her regular job. Once treatment is complete, the doctor will let you know if the employee suffered a permanent condition and assign an impairment rating. This information will help you in settling the employee's workers' compensation claim.

Communication

The orthopedic specialist will communicate with you, the case manager, and the claims adjuster during the employee's treatment and recovery. The doctor will make sure you are in the loop on the employee's progress. Most employees' injuries are legitimate, and the employee wants to get back to work. If the orthopedic specialist suspects your employee is malingering or not showing up for appointments, the doctor will let you know.

Prevention

Your orthopedic facility can share information with you to prevent injuries. Your employees can be trained on lifting procedures and other body mechanics to reduce the number of work injuries. If a type of injury is common in your facility, an orthopedic center can give you tips on how to reduce the frequency of that particular injury.

Return to Work

The goal of workers' compensation in Atlanta is to get your employee healthy and back to work as soon as possible. An orthopedic center will work with you and your employee to attain this goal. Treatment may be followed by therapy, and the employee will be counseled on how to avoid the same injury in the future.