Most Louisiana residents use their dominant hand for nearly everything. When a work-related accident leads to a break or fracture in that hand, life can become particularly frustrating, annoying and troublesome. In fact, some employees may not even be able to return to work until reaching a full recovery.
The hand is made up of numerous bones that create a framework that gives you the ability to do a variety of tasks such as grabbing or catching items, making a fist and picking up objects. When one of the bones in the hand breaks, all of those movements and more are compromised until it heals. One way in which many workers break one or more bones in their hands is catching themselves as they fall. In other cases, an object falls on, strikes or pinches the hand causing a break.
Any Louisiana worker who has ever broken a hand knows the pain that goes with this injury. Even though the patient knows a doctor has to examine it, he or she may not be ready for the additional pain that causes. The treatments can also cause some pain, at least at first. The injury may require pins, metal plates or screws to fix. Splints and casts may also be needed.
In any case, using that hand may not be possible for some time. For those who suffer this or any other type of work-related accident on a ship, dock or oil rig, a substantial amount of income could be lost while the medical bills continue to pile up. Fortunately, compensation for those losses could be possible through the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act or, in some cases, both.