If you’re a seasonal worker, the early spring is a good time for you to get back to your landscaping profession. With spring cleanups and yard work gearing up again to make the state’s landscapes look perfect it’s a time when you can be hard at work for the next six months. It is also a time when there is a greater risk to you of experiencing a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim.
Landscape companies often experience significant injuries to their workers, especially in the early part of the spring as workers get back to their jobs. After having been away for some time due to weather concerns, workers must re-engage with safety protocols and refresh their memories on the proper use of equipment.
One area that often gets overlooked in the landscaping world is the loading and unloading of trucks and trailers. This is a surprisingly large part of the role of a landscaper and one that can lead to serious injury and cause a worker to miss significant time away from work.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) some of the injuries that often occur when a worker is loading and unloading trucks or trailers include;
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pinching or smashing fingers in tailgates or trailer hitches
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injuries to hands or feet while hooking or unhooking trailers
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falls from trucks or trailers
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injuries sustained from contact with equipment and material being loaded or unloaded into or out of trucks and trailers
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tailgates falling on feet and legs
Serious injuries can occur when working with trucks and trailers because these vehicles are often heavy duty and when one of your extremities comes in contact with them they can get seriously hurt. Some of the equipment that is found on heavy duty trucks and trailers can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and is often free to swing leaving you vulnerable to the impact from this heavy equipment.
If you are in the landscaping field you know all too well how much loading and unloading you do from the truck or trailer you use to haul your equipment, gear and landscaping materials (i.e. shrubs, fill, etc..) This loading and unloading can lead to serious injuries and may leave you without the ability to work making it so that you have to miss time and file a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim along the way. If that is the case, it could mean your season is over before it even begins.
Getting injured can be scary and uncertain, but filing a claim does not have to be that way. Contact our office and one of our board certified attorneys will review your situation and work with you to ease the burden of filing a claim.
