Workers’ compensation insurance is intended to assist workers who are injured or become ill on the job. When an employee in Illinois finds that they have suffered a significant injury, they often seek workers’ compensation benefits to help them make ends meet. These benefit payments can be used to pay for basic needs such as food and housing.
Recently, first responder emergency personnel were called to an Illinois grocery store to assist an employee in the meat department. When the medical caretakers arrived, they found that the middle-aged employee of the store had gotten his hand stuck in a meat grinder. The first half of the man’s arm was stuck in the machine, which had to be partially disassembled in order to get the employee into an ambulance.
Once at the hospital, doctors and others began the difficult task of removing the man’s hand from the meat grinder. Once he was freed from the machine, the grocery store employee was taken into surgery where doctors worked to save his extremities. Now the man faces a long recovery period before he can return to work. Because the injury happened while the man was at work, he may seek be able to seek assistance in the form of a workers’ compensation claim during his time of recuperation.
In such cases as this one involving an Illinois grocery store worker, the cost of recovery from an accident can be high. The workers’ compensation benefits that are offered to some injured workers can help to cover many of the costs associated with this type of accident. And, in cases where injured workers find that they are unable to return to their former employment after an accident, some long-term benefits may be available.
Source: ABC News, “Illinois Man’s Arm Pulled From Supermarket Meat Grinder,” Matthew Jaffe, Nov. 9, 2012