Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/workerscomp/cumulative-trauma
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 19:21:56+00:00

Document:
A cumulative trauma is contrasted with a specific injury, which is one single incident.
Because it is not a single incident, an employee may not know he or she has a cumulative trauma until he or she is told by a doctor.
This means that it could be years after an employee stops working before he or she realizes that there is an injury caused by work.
An employee has one year from learning the cumulative trauma injury was caused by work to file a workers' compensation claim.
1. What is a cumulative trauma injury?
1.1. What is a specific work injury?
3. What is the date of injury of a cumulative trauma?
4. Is a work injury a specific injury or cumulative trauma?
4.1. Why does it matter if an injured worker has a cumulative trauma or specific injury?
5. How to file a cumulative trauma claim?
Work injuries are most commonly thought of as a single event such as a fall or an injury that occurs while lifting something.
But injuries don't always occur on a specific day, at a specific time. There are also injures that happen over a longer period of time.
Example: Mike injures his back from lifting a sixty-pound box. This is a specific injury.
Example: Mike injures his back from lifting ten-pound boxes every day for eight months. This is a cumulative trauma injury.
Both of these injuries are due to Mike's work. But the cause is different.
The time period for a cumulative trauma is the time the injured worker is doing the work that is causing the injury and ends when there is disability or need for medical treatment.
The disability can be temporary disability or permanent disability.
Example: Heather works as a mail carrier from January 20, 2008 to December 10, 2015. She stops working on December 10, 2015 due to pain in her right knee.
The time of Heather's cumulative trauma exposure is from January 20, 2008 to December 10, 2015.
1.1. What is a "specific" work injury?
It is unlikely that an employee would be unaware of a specific injury because a single incident is hard to miss. If an employee slips and falls or feels a sharp pain in his or her back while lifting a box, the cause of the injury is clear. The employee has the responsibility to tell his or her employer what happened.
In a cumulative trauma situation, there isn't a single incident. Whatever exposure is occurring or damage being done may not be clear until much later.
Even if there are symptoms, the cause may be hard to figure out.
Example: Jaime works as an administrative assistant for a law firm for 12 years. She began to get pain in her wrists during work. She eventually had pain all the time.
Jaime's doctor said her wrist pain was carpal tunnel syndrome from repetitively typing at work.
Example: Frank was a mechanic for 20 years and was exposed to exhaust while working a garage. He developed lung cancer.
The medical evidence showed that inhaling the vehicle exhaust was the cause of Frank's lung cancer.
If an injured worker does not make a claim for benefits from a work injury within a certain period of time, also known as the “Statute of limitations,” he or she can be prevented from receiving any benefits.
Since it can be hard for an injured worker to know if he or she has a cumulative trauma, the date of injury and statute of limitations needs to be adjusted for cumulative trauma cases beyond the period of exposure.
Example: Alicia could not work due to severe back pain. Sixteen months after she stopped working she becomes aware that the injury was caused by her work. She files a workers' compensation claim.
The insurance company says that because Alicia had not worked in 16 months, the one-year statute of limitations had run out, and her ability to file a claim had expired.
But Alicia can still file her claim because the date of injury is the date that she became aware her injury was caused by work, not when she stopped working. Even though this was 16 months after she stopped working,7 the one year statute of limitations did not start until 16 months after later.
Example: Kyle, a machinist, has emphysema and stops working. He does not know if his emphysema was caused by work. He has no reason to think dusty conditions at work was the cause until he reads a newspaper article about it three years after he stops working.8 He then files a claim and is within the statute of limitations.
Example: Jack was security guard who has heart attack and stops working. He does not know it could have been caused by work until four years later when a doctor tells him.9 Jack is allowed to file a cumulative trauma claim.
Many people, even attorneys, confuse the time period of a cumulative trauma exposure with the date of injury of a cumulative trauma.
The one-year statute of limitations for filing a workers' compensation claim for a cumulative trauma does not start until the injured worker knows the injury is from work.
Example: Jennifer has worked in an assembly plant since 2010. She has severe headaches. Due to the headaches she stops working on March 3, 2016. On November 2, 2017 a doctor tells her that the headaches were caused by a chemical she was exposed to at work.
The period she was working and exposed to the chemicals that caused her headaches was between 2010 and March 3, 2016.
However, she does not find out if her headaches were caused by work until she goes to the doctor on November 2, 2017. This means the date of injury is from 2010 to November 2, 2017.
For the one-year statute of limitations, she would have until November 2, 2018 to file her claim.
The term “trauma” can mean injuries of force, including blows, falls, cuts, twists, or strains that cause physical damage.15 Any injury could potentially be a cumulative trauma.
If an injury is a cumulative trauma it may come from more than one employer.
Example: Alan worked as a roofer for A1 Roofing for 5 months. He then got a job with ZZ Roofing and worked for 4 months. He then had to stop working because of increasing pain in his back and right shoulder.
Alan's doctor says he has a cumulative trauma. Alan files a claim against both A1 Roofing and ZZ Roofing.
5. How to file a cumulative trauma claim in California?
If an employee believes he or she has suffered a cumulative trauma claim, it is important to pursue it no matter how long ago the job that caused it might have been.
The statute of limitations allows a significant amount of time to file a claim.
It is important to see a doctor to find out if the medical cause is from work.
Once a doctor has decided an injury is from work, an Injured worker needs to understand how to file a workers' compensation claim.
For help with filing a claim, completing workers comp forms or representation at a workers compensation trial, contact us at (855) LAW-FIRM. Our firm helps police officers, firefighters and other workers to get compensation for their job-related injuries.
Western Growers Ins. Co. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1993) 16 Cal. App. 4th 227, 234.
Chavez v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1973) 31 Cal. App. 3d 5, 11.
Cal. Lab. Code § 3208.1(a).
Cal. Lab. Code § 5405.
Davies v. Krasna, (1975) 14 Cal. 3d 502, 512.
Chavez v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1973) 31 Cal. App. 3d 5.
Chambers v. WCAB (1968) 33 Cal. Comp. Cases 722.
Los Angeles v. WCAB (1978) 88 Cal. App. 3d 19.
Cal. Lab. Code § 3208.1(b).
Cal. Lab. Code § 5412.
Los Angeles, supra at p. 27.
Permanente Medical Group v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1985) 171 Cal. App. 3d 1171, 1180 fn.4.
Aetna Cas. & Surety Co. v. Workmen's Comp. Appeals Bd. (1973) 35 Cal. App. 3d 329, 341.

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