Tripping

llusko

We have an employee who was at work and tripped over their own shoelace and wants to claim L&I. Would this be a chargeable claim?

njjel

The best way I know to handle these situations is to file the claim and let your insurance company determine it's compensability. By doing that you stay out of what could be a touchy situation.

llusko

That is what I was thinking after I left to go home yesterday.

Thanks

HRmama

I agree w/ njjel; however, it is good to know what claims are covered by work comp. I'm not sure what state you're in, but in TN, an injury has to "arise out of" the employee's work, and if the risk is something that the public at large is exposed to, the injury is not compensable. Tripping over your own shoelace is such a risk that is not created by the particular work situation, unless there are other facts that would somehow make this work-related.

System

Every state has its own way of deciding what's work-related. Here in TN, I got workers' comp when I blew out my knee as captain of the company's volleyball team. In other states, it wouldn't be covered. For some reason, we didn't have a team the next year. /:)

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

cebudragonlady

It seems to be a never-ending-battle.The workers in the shop have the bad habit of dropping bolts,lug-nuts and what- nots all over the floor during the day...where someone could easily trip ( I have ) , and then we have to pay them also to sweep up the floor at the end of each day or pick the stuff up ( I have done that for what they missed ) The floor is the most dangerous place in this factory.