Has anyone had an employee file a workers comp claim for repetitive stress injury? We have a guy currently who is been having wrist pain that he claims is from window cleaning. I’ve never had it so I was hesitant to think it was caused from that being as we both do a lot of rock climbing. Now he says his other wrist is hurting and so he wants to file a workers comp claim. With that being said he’s a honest guy that I don’t believe is trying to take advantage at all but also overreacts for even the smallest little cut. Any suggestions for a situation like this? I told him to go ahead and just file the claim and they will determine if it is something that can be covered. Does this type of thing increase your rates much?
Also to add he didn’t file one for his right wrist but now his left wrist is starting to the same thing and that’s now when he’s filing.
So is he right handed and filing a claim on his left hand ? I’m a little confused 
Btw you did the right thing by telling him to go to the Dr
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Carpal tunnel does he get pain from his wrist up into the palm of his hand?any numbness?sounds like carpal tunnel or really bad tendonitis which can be very painful and hard to get rid of.
What part of the window cleaning is making the wrist sore??
Repetitive stress injuries are real. My employee is dealing with this right now with his wrist and I have dealt with it in the past with both my wrists.
Unfortunately the only real cure is to stop doing what you’re doing. I had to change the way I cleaned windows and lighten my load. Now I can see I’m going to have to lighten my employees load so he can heal.
You may have to retrain your employees to help prevent and lessen these types of injuries. Loosening your grip on the squeegee, not pressing so hard, changing out the rubber more frequently. More straight pulls and less fanning. Not rushing and overloading your employees. Using a WFP more and less squeegeeing. Stretching your wrists, arms, and shoulders regularly.
Those are a few tips that helped me over the years.
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As mentioned above…Loosening your grip is very important. Hold the handle like you would hold an ice cream cone.
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Any profession that involves the same motion or movement over and over will do this.painters carpenters swinging a hammer.Pitchers in base ball get rotator cuff injuries.
a lot of good stuff on this site that can help, carpal tunnel, tennis elbow etc can be helped quickly with some exercises to the opposite muscles
https://www.flextend.com/rehabilitation.html
theres some stretches and other things on their videos, usually I can get rid of whatever within a few days or a couple weeks
usually the onset of spring sudden busy schedules brings on things like this after a lighter workload in winter ive found
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Ok put this up somewhere here.
Found doing this to your squeegee handles make a big difference.
Go to the FB group check it out.
You can’t stop someone from claiming workers compensation but I wouldn’t be super loosy Goosy with it either. Is the injury due to work or rock climbing? Did this happen while employed for you or did the problem actually start with a previous employer? How long ago was the first noticeable problem with this issue? Often times there are time frame reporting requirements. These are all things the insurance company is going to ask anyways but it’s always good to have these conversations ahead of time. Repetitive injuries statistically keep people out of work longer than any other non life altering injury and are some of the most expensive claims. Depending on where you’re located, the bigger the claim, the higher your rate when you renew.
I’m not encouraging you to persuade this guy to not file, but in this industry, so many employees work for multiple companies doing similar work, they do their own window cleaning on the weekends, go rock climbing, etc. So did they get injured working for you or through their other repetitive activities they engaged in on their own time? Are you truly liable? Or are you the guy that does things right and you’re the only avenue for someone to get time off and get paid at the same time? Hate to sound so callous, but Work Comp insurance in all states are the most fraud ridden agencies, costing employers billions in bogus claims.
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Been using a squeeze for about 7 straight years now, and only recently a WFP combo. I modified my squeeze from the very beginning, and only recently started feeling shoulder pain since using a WFP. Yes it’s a mini CF pole, but it definitely still works my shoulder for some reason 
With that said, I’m torn that I don’t have employees, but this subject just helps me in force why I don’t 
Thank you to everyone who responded. So it started in October when he was carrying a gutter bag of debris. I made sure that he understood that workers comp was not just something to be used frivolously for any small thing. Once he understood my rates go up after a claim he held off. He really is company minded and I believe is not out for any dishonest gain here. He worked through the issue till winter then took 2 months off. He fell snowboarding which he said made the injury come back. He went to doctors and therapy for the issue and they said it was a carpal boss which I had not heard of. I guess it’s bone growth between the bones in the hand which is causing the pain. He says he has spent about $1000 of his own money on doctor visits so far( a lot of which I feel was not necessary). He is quick to go to doctors and kinda blow things out of proportion. Like little cuts seem like a big deal to him. We didn’t agree on the issue since I felt it was just general strain on his wrist from a lot of work and not something needing doctors and workers comp. But that’s just how I am with my own pain. I usually just wait a while and it goes away or I change how I do the task.
Now this last week he said his left wrist is doing the same thing and so I was just tired of going back and forth with him about it and said to file the claim. I will just let an adjuster work it out. The last doctor visit said he is fine to work and it should be fine in 2 weeks. So there won’t be any lost wages just the compensation of medical bills.
But I will have to just see what the insurance says.
