Quirks of the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act, pt. 2

               Typically, incidences that occur at work are acceptable workers’ compensation claims if they are injuries by accident arising out of the employment or occupational diseases. There is significant case law defining what exactly is an injury by accident. The easiest way to describe it is an unexpected event. For example, tripping and falling would be an injury by accident while hurting your shoulder opening a box would not be if your job regularly included opening boxes. These are pretty sweeping generalizations, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.

               There is an exception to the injury by accident standard though, and that is if an employee suffers a “specific traumatic incident of the work assigned” and in doing so injures their back or causes a new hernia. A specific traumatic incident is exactly what it sounds like. Something specific that causes trauma to the back or causes a hernia. Something getting worse over time would NOT be a specific traumatic incident. So, an employee who regularly moves furniture who one day lifted a couch the wrong way and hurt their back might have suffered a specific traumatic incident. The same employee noting that their back gradually got worse over a period of weeks, even if diagnosed with the same injury, would not have a specific traumatic incident. New hernias are also covered if they meet the standard as well as ruptures but back injuries are by far the most common.