Benzene Exposure At Work Lawyer In Los Angeles

The State of California has a population of more than 38 million residents and is the largest state in America. It is also the 3rd largest in the nation in square miles. California, as a base for manufacturing, has continued to grow each year for more than two decades. With the growing population and manufacturing base comes the fact that there is also an increasing number of worker’s compensation cases filed each year.

Employees understand the hazards and what they might be forced to deal with when it comes to the chance of injury on the job. While there is always the specter of the unknown, there is also one hazard that is present and receives little attention despite its danger. There are no annual numbers available to tell us about trends. This hazard is benzene. It is a commonly used liquid chemical in a large number of different manufacturing processes, as well as a surprising number of consumer products as an ingredient. It is unlikely that consumption of an over the counter product would cause an illness, but many people do not know that benzene is a carcinogen. There is a potential for illness and disease from repeated exposure. The exposure or poisoning can result in cancer and death.

If you are working for a company that uses benzene in its production facilities, there is an opportunity for a severe workplace injury if you are exposed to it. Over the counter items like makeup, paint thinner, adhesives, and cleaning products are just a few of the everyday items that use it. Industries such as chemical manufacturing and natural gas extraction also use benzene. If your job requires you to work around car exhaust or secondhand smoke in places like casinos, you are also being exposed to dangerous levels of benzene. You need to be extremely careful when working around known sources of benzene, focusing on the safety protocols that should be used every day. This is critical because if you get exposed, there will be an investigation into how it happened.

Being situationally aware of your work environment at all times is a crucial job skill when you work in an industry that has some high-risk hazards. If you get hurt at work though, each employee of any California based company is insured by the worker’s compensation program. If you are ill or have been injured at work, please call the team at Normandie Law Firm. We can help you get the questions you have answered quickly. If that initial call to our legal staff doesn’t answer your questions, we can schedule a free initial consultation with you and a benzene exposure at work lawyer in Los Angeles. They will gather information about your accident and injury, and help you get on the right track. One thing you will learn immediately about the worker’s compensation system is the time limit for filing a claim.

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What Are The Time Limits For Filing A Worker’s Compensation Claim?
Thirty days is your standard time limit for filing a case with the worker’s compensation program for most workplace injuries. Please reach out to the Normandie Law Firm staff as soon as possible to get the help to open your claim before this deadline. If you wait longer than 30 days to open your claim, it may be denied based on the particulars of the incident and illness. The 30-day window is usually a fairly firm time limit, but there are exceptions. One of them deals with cumulative trauma injuries.

What Is Cumulative Trauma?
Injuries that can be linked directly to a repeated activity, which then eventually need treatment, are diagnosed as being the result of cumulative trauma. This kind of injury is one that is not restricted by the standard 30-day time limit from the date of the incident. It is eligible for treatment under worker’s compensation, but there is a different time limit to file a claim. Any illness or injury that is diagnosed as a result of cumulative trauma has a time limit of 1 year to file a claim with worker’s compensation. It starts on the date of the first day of work you miss due to the illness. It does require a medical professional’s diagnosis for approval.

The Difference Between Exposure and Benzene Poisoning
In basic terms, poisoning is considered an acute case. What this means is that there was a brief exposure to an amount of benzene, usually large in volume, and absorbed it into your system in a very short period of time. Your symptoms are usually confined to dizziness and headaches, as there may be some mild nausea and vomiting. Prolonged acute poisoning can lead to unconsciousness and death, though this is rare.

Exposure occurs with small amounts of benzene over a long period of time. These symptoms could be similar in appearance but are different from acute poisoning. Sometimes they have little to no symptoms, and people don’t know they were exposed at all. Over time, this can result in different types of blood disorders like leukemia, damage to your bone marrow, as well as suppression of your immune system. The resulting injuries can lead to diseases like Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) or Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).

Understanding MDS and AML
MDS and AML are both forms of blood cancer. MDS affects your bone marrow, damaging the DNA in stem cell production within the bone marrow. It is typically very slow moving and there are treatments available that deal with it pretty effectively. AML is a much more aggressive form of the cancer and is usually developed from MDS, but not in every instance. It will often take years after initial exposure for AML to appear, and it is not easy to treat successfully.

Will Benzene Exposure And Poisoning Be Covered By The Worker’s Compensation Insurance?
If your benzene illness happens at work, then it will be covered by worker’s compensation. It is critical that you get medical care if you think you were only exposed for a brief period of time. This is not only for treatment purposes, but also to trigger an investigation into how the exposure occurred and to prevent it from happening in the future. It is crucial that you maintain the safety standards set by the employer and always verify the safety equipment you use. Benzene is very dangerous, no matter what the amount is, if exposed in raw form.

What Key Benefits Are Provided By The Worker’s Compensation For Benzene Injuries?
There is no specific benefit only provided for benzene injuries. Below is a list of the key benefits provided by worker’s compensation to employees for any kind of injury, and it does include a death benefit. The benefits are:

• Per incident, a value of one million dollars for payment of medical expenses related to your diagnosis and treatment, hospitalization, out of pocket expenses, medical equipment rental, and prescriptions, as well as any necessary ongoing future treatments
• 66% of your weekly earnings will be paid if the injuries do not permit you to work during your recovery in the short term
• Disability payments if your injuries and recovery turn into longer time periods of missed work, which may reduce or eliminate your income in the future
• A death benefit of up to $320,000 for your surviving dependents. The total amount paid out does vary, and it is determined using the number of dependents and the types that you have
• A lump sum of up to $10,000 for final arrangements in cases of death

Who Is Allowed To File A Claim For The Worker’s Compensation Death Benefits?
The only persons allowed to file for a death benefit from worker’s compensation are the dependents of the deceased. They are also the only persons who are eligible to receive the same death benefits. There is a one year time limit to file for death benefits, and the countdown begins on the day the family member passed, not their illness start date.

Dependents are defined as those who are eligible for total or partial benefits upon death. This distinction is what allows worker’s comp to determine the value of the benefit. Total dependents are typically entirely dependent financially on the deceased and are not required to provide documentation beyond identification. They are:

• Any surviving spouse or registered domestic partner whose income in the previous 12 months was less than $30,000 in total
• Any minor children
• Children of any age who are deemed physically or mentally unable to earn a living

Partial dependents are relatives who were only partially reliant on the deceased financially at the time of their passing. Partial dependents will be asked to provide documentation that proves the financial dependency. Examples of partial dependents are:

• The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner whose earnings in the previous 12 months were greater than $30,000 in total
• Any children over the age of 18, including stepchildren or adopted children
• The deceased family member’s parents or grandparents
• Other extended family members like siblings, aunts and uncles, as well as grandchildren

Can I Sue My Company If I Am Injured At Work?
As a general rule, employees who are injured at work are not permitted to sue their employer. Worker’s comp program insurance is an exclusive remedy for all workplace injuries and benefits. This means that negligence or fault does not need to be proven in order to be covered by the insurance. It assumes the normal responsibility aspect of the incident and cannot be challenged. The exception to this is if gross negligence by the employer can be shown to have been responsible for the accident or the hazard. Your benzene exposure at work lawyer in Los Angeles will assess your case and determine if you have a situation where gross negligence applies. If you do file a lawsuit, you are not permitted to sue for any costs that have been covered by worker’s compensation. Examples like your medical bills or lost wages would fall under this description. If a lawsuit is warranted, the Normandie Law Firm team will help you determine what the qualified damages are going to be.

Can You Still Sue For Wrongful Death After Getting A Worker’s Compensation Death Benefit?
You can still sue for wrongful death after qualifying and receiving a death benefit, but similar to an employee filing a lawsuit, if the target of the suit is the deceased employer, then only in the case of gross negligence. The family can also file a lawsuit against a 3rd party whose actions or decisions led to or caused the death of a family member.

Will There Be Upfront Expenses When I Hire Normandie Law Firm?
There are some law firms that will charge up front to cover their expenses. When you hire the Normandie Law Firm to represent you, we will not ask you to pay any upfront legal fees before we take you on as a client. It doesn’t matter if we are representing you in negotiations or filing a lawsuit. If we do not win your case, we will not charge you at all. Please give the Normandie Law Firm a call when you need to hire a benzene exposure at work lawyer in Los Angeles to help you resolve this troubling matter.

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