Archives for April 2016

When you’ve been hurt on the job, your first (and often only) recourse is to file a workers’ compensation claim. But don’t be surprised if what is obviously a legitimate claim is turned down. A large percentage of initial claims are rejected as a matter of course, as your employer and the workers’ compensation insurance company seek to minimize costs. One of the most common arguments used to deny workers’ compensation benefits is the assertion that the injury was pre-existing or only happened because of a pre-existing condition.

Alleging that your injury was caused by a pre-existing condition simply says that you had some prior injury and what you are experiencing now is due to that prior injury. For example, if you were in a car accident and hurt your back, your employer and/or the workers’ compensation insurance company may assert that any discomfort you experience because of work-related trauma is only because of your prior injury—that the pain you feel is entirely because of your earlier injury or that the work-related injury exacerbated a condition that made you more susceptible to injury.

Just because your employer can show the existence of a pre-existing condition, however, does not mean that you can receive workers’ compensation benefits. If you can show that your employer was negligent and you would not have suffered any injury without that negligence, you can still receive compensation. Furthermore, if you can show that the pre-existing condition had completely healed, any new injury is compensable. For example, if you had a car accident 20 years ago and hurt your back, you can still recover workers’ compensation benefits for a back injury at work if you can demonstrate that you had medical treatment for the car injury and that it had healed.

Contact Us

At Taylor & Boguski, we bring more than 70 years of combined legal experience to injured workers throughout New Jersey. For a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call us at 856-200-8989.

According to a statistics gathered by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), automatic nailers or nail guns are responsible for nearly 40,000 ER visits every year. But the risk is not limited to construction workers. The CDC found that almost a third (32%) of annual nail gun injuries are sustained by consumers.

Nail guns are generally one of two types: contact nail guns or sequential nail guns. With a contact nail gun, there’s a spring loaded safety mechanism at the tip of the “barrel.” You can hold down the trigger and the gun will automatically fire when you make contact with something, as it will disengage the safety mechanism. With a sequential gun, you must first depress the safety mechanism and then pull the trigger. If you have already pulled the trigger and try to depress the safety mechanism, it won’t work. Not surprisingly, the CDC found twice as many injuries involving contact guns.

The Principal Causes of Nail Gun Injuries

Researchers found a number of causes of nail gun injuries:

  • Unfortunately, in many instances, people are hurt because they have bypassed or permanently disengaged the safety mechanisms
  • It’s not uncommon for a gun to double fire, with the second nail coming out after the gun has been pulled away from the board
  • A nail can ricochet off a metal surface or even a knot in a board
  • A framing nail can easily penetrate a stud, causing injury if a worker’s hand is on the back side of the board
  • A worker may accidentally push the gun against a leg, hand or other body part
  • A worker may miss the board, even though the safety mechanism has been depressed

Contact the Law Office of Taylor & Boguski

At Taylor & Boguski, we bring more than 70 years of combined legal experience to injured people throughout New Jersey. For a free initial consultation, contact us online or call us at 856-200-8989.