Workers’ Compensation claims for knee injuries in Australian workplaces are relatively common and can happen anywhere at any time, even in locations deemed safe.
Workers can suffer personal injuries in the form of severe knee damage, whether they’re shop or factory staff, builders, scaffolders or tradies. All it takes to injure your knee is a slip, trip or awkward fall and life changes in that instant.
While knee injuries can often heal slowly without treatment, some need specialist care and most will affect your ability to move, stand, and carry moderate to heavy weights. If you have suffered a severe knee injury at work and can’t return to your job, you can claim Workers’ Compensation for your personal injury.
Workers’ Compensation Benefits
A successful knee injury Workers’ Compensation claim can help replace your lost wages and future income and pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation due to your personal injury.
If you have had a knee injury, you may be entitled to Workers’ Compensation through domestic assistance, medical expenses, lost income and a lump sum amount. The amount of compensation or lump sum figure you might receive will be determined by the severity of your knee injury and how long you will be off work.
Knee Injury Types and Required Treatment
Common work-related knee injuries can include strained ligaments, a torn meniscus, torn tendons, and patella-femoral pain syndrome accompanied by extreme pain. If you’ve injured your knee at work and can’t stand, walk or bear weight due to your personal injury, then you need medical treatment. If your knee injury occurred at work, you must report it to your employer immediately or as soon as you can so the company’s Insurer can be notified.
Unless you need an ambulance to take you to the hospital, you should seek medical treatment and make sure you inform your doctor that it happened at work and you will be claiming Workers’ Compensation.
Then, you must contact an experienced personal injury lawyer such as PK Simpson to make sure you get maximum Workers’ Compensation or Damages for your work-related knee injury.
Possible Medical Treatment
Your doctor or the hospital will no doubt recommend an X-ray to rule out damage to your knee bones, and a CT scan or MRI will help to diagnose any soft tissue damage, including to the ligaments, cartilage and tendons. You may be prescribed painkillers, ice and compression to ease the pain resulting from your personal injury.
Your doctor will undoubtedly advise you to consult a physiotherapist to help your knee injury heal and ease pain and follow the RICE regime: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation for soft tissue damage. In a worst-case scenario, you might need surgery for a knee reconstruction or repair or a total knee replacement.
Claiming Work-Related Knee Injury Damages
If your knee injury happened while you were at work, then you may be eligible to claim Workers Compensation. But if you believe your knee injury occurred due to unsafe or negligent conditions at work or your employer’s negligence, you may be entitled to sue for damages. The form of compensation available for workers who can sue for employer negligence is a Work Injury Damages claim.
When making a Work Injury Damages Claim for your work-related knee injury, you must establish the following criteria:
- You have to prove negligence by your employer or a co-worker and that it caused your knee injury.
- An independent medical examiner is required to assess your Whole Person Impairment (WPI).
- The medical examiner must be appointed by the Personal Injury Commission or as agreed with the Insurer.
- Your WPI must be 11 per cent or more.
Damages are payable in a lump sum amount, with most claims worth $200,000 to $500,000 in compensation.
However, you cannot receive Workers’ Compensation benefits if you choose to claim Work Injury Damages and succeed in being granted a lump-sum settlement amount for your personal injury. You lose your weekly payments and medical and rehabilitation expenses, and treatment for your knee injury. Your Damages payout will include reimbursing you for these costs.
Lump-Sum Workers’ Compensation
Suppose you have sustained a severe knee injury at work, and your injury is deemed a permanent impairment. In that case, you might be entitled to claim a Workers’ Compensation knee injury settlement and benefits as compensation for your personal injury.
This lump-sum payment does not replace weekly wage payments and medical expenses. A lump sum is an additional benefit available through the NSW Workers Compensation scheme for knee injuries and other workplace illnesses or harm.
Compensation Possible For Your Knee Injury
It’s impossible to give an exact amount of compensation possible for a single case since everyone’s injuries and circumstances are different. It depends on the severity of your knee injury and how it happened. However, the following list gives an estimate of the types of benefits possible:
- Compensation for your work-related knee injury and medical expenses plus travel bills
- Weekly payments and benefits as compensation for your inability to work
- A lump sum settlement for permanent impairment should you meet the Whole Person Impairment (WPI) threshold for your knee injuries
Which Lawyers Are Best for Workers Comp Cases?
You need lawyers who will fight relentlessly to get you the best outcomes possible.
At PK Simpson, our lawyers are dedicated to making sure our clients reach the WPI threshold which allows them to claim a lump sum amount. That’s our main game, and to do that, our lawyers have to work with doctors and medical experts who have the right experience to make correct assessments.
Some law firms new to Workers’ Comp cases don’t have access to the best contacts and experienced doctors. We’ve been doing Workers’ Comp law for 37 years and have an excellent record of treating doctors to help our clients receive the compensation they deserve.
Knee Injury Compensation Case Studies
Here’s an example of a possible claim. Marian, worked in a busy Sydney office. Her colleague was photocopying documents when a few pages fell on the floor just as Marian came into the room. Marian didn’t see the papers and stepped onto them. The tiled floor was slippery, and Marian’s foot and the pages slid, causing her to fall to the floor. She twisted her knee severely, tearing her meniscus. A torn meniscus is a serious knee injury, so Marian came to us for legal advice from a Workers’ Compensation lawyer and made a Workers’ Compensation claim. We quickly got to work on her knee injury case.
Marian Needed Surgery
Marian was lucky she didn’t hit her head when she fell, but the knee injury was bad enough. Her doctors diagnosed the meniscus tear and decided it was so severe that she needed a total knee replacement. Her Workers’ Compensation covered her surgery.
Since Marian needed major surgery on her knee, the examining doctor found she had a WPI of 15 per cent after maximum medical improvement. Hence, she claimed a lump sum Workers’ Compensation settlement for her personal injury.
Marian’s Lump Sum Claim Accepted!
We worked hard to get Marian the Workers’ Compensation benefits for lost wages and medical bills that she deserved for her personal injury. The Insurer accepted liability for her personal injury claim, and she received compensation with Workers Comp benefits for her weekly pay entitlements and her medical expenses.
We also won Marian a lump sum payout of $400,000 for her knee injury, which was additional to her weekly earnings and medical expenses, which the insurer had continued paying. Marian was also reimbursed for time off work for her surgery, rehabilitation and recovery.
If you have sustained an injury to your knee at work and need to speak to our expert personal injury lawyers about a knee injury claim, contact PK Simpson Injury and Compensation Lawyers today.
We can discuss compensation law and what you are entitled to claim for your personal injury. We’ve won countless personal injury claims for our clients with knee injuries, and we worked hard to win each one.
You can reach our personal injury lawyers on 1300 757 467, email enquiries@pksimpson.com.au or fill in the convenient online form.