Most Dangerous Jobs in Greensboro, NC

The Piedmont Triad is a transportation and distribution hub. Due to increased truck traffic, truck-related injuries are more likely in this region. Additionally, key industries in the area include manufacturing, construction, textiles, and automotive parts. Many of North Carolina’s most dangerous occupations are found in these industries.

What makes a job dangerous? A dangerous job exposes the worker to significant risks more often than other jobs. Working as a forklift driver in a warehouse is a more dangerous job than working as a secretary in an office. Dangerous jobs often include dangerous substances, heavy machinery, or hard physical labor.

If you work in one of these dangerous jobs and get injured at work, you could be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. An experienced Greensboro work injury lawyer can advise you about the benefits you qualify for and pursue them for you.

Construction: Leading Cause of Fatal Workplace Injuries

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina’s construction sector had the highest number of fatalities in one year. Falls, slips, and trips made up 21 percent of work-related fatalities in the state. High-risk jobs in Greensboro, NC, are dangerous, and as careful as workers may be, accidents will happen.

Construction-related hazards include the following:

• Repetitive strain injuries
• Falls from scaffolding, roofs, or ladders
• Trench or structure collapses
• Electrocution from contact with electrical equipment or power lines
• Being struck by machinery or equipment

Trucking and Transportation Risks on North Carolina Roads

Transportation accidents accounted for 35 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The hazards these workers frequently face include repetitive trauma injuries, sprains, and strains from frequent lifting, musculoskeletal injuries from constant sitting, fatigue-related accidents from long hours or insufficient breaks, and motor vehicle accident injuries.

The Dangers of Manufacturing and Warehouse Jobs in the Greensboro Area

Workers in warehousing and manufacturing face additional hazards that construction and transportation workers may not. Those hazards include the following:

• Exposure to chemicals that can result in burns or respiratory issues
• Machine injuries, including amputations, lacerations, and crushing injuries
• Assembly line work that causes repetitive strain injuries
• Exposure to continuous loud noises that results in hearing loss
• Slip, trip, and fall accidents on factory floors

Unique Exposures for Greensboro Healthcare Workers

Healthcare workers are exposed to a wide range of hazards every day. Besides the high risk of falling on freshly mopped or waxed floors, these workers may be exposed to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, hepatitis B, or tuberculosis. They face exposure to a huge range of conditions from needlesticks, such as HIV or the Zika virus.

Patients with mental disabilities or who are impaired may be combative, and healthcare workers who attempt to restrain them may be subject to physical injuries. The same is true if angry, drunk, or high family members or other members of the public cause disturbances in healthcare facilities. Finally, lifting, shifting, or moving patients can result in back, neck, or other musculoskeletal strains for healthcare workers.

How Workers’ Compensation Protects You After a Job Injury in NC

Workplace injuries in Greensboro may make a worker eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. In North Carolina, employers with three or more employees are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. Employees whose injuries arose out of and in the course of their work can obtain workers’ comp benefits. Those benefits include the following:

• Medical Benefits — Workers’ compensation will pay the reasonable costs required to treat the work-related injury. In North Carolina, the employer will provide a list of healthcare providers from which the injured worker must choose. As long as one of the listed physicians provides the treatment, workers’ comp will pay. If the injured worker believes they’re receiving substandard care, they can petition the North Carolina Industrial Commission (NCIC) to change doctors.
• Temporary Total Disability (TTD) Benefits — If the treating physician keeps the employee off work due to the injury, the worker can receive TTD. These benefits are paid at two-thirds of the worker’s pre-injury average weekly wage.
• Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) Benefits — If the injured worker returns to restricted duty work or part-time work that pays less than their pre-injury job, workers’ comp will pay two-thirds of the difference between their current wages and their pre-injury average weekly wage.
• Permanent Total Disability (PTD) Benefits — A work injury that results in the loss of both feet, legs, arms, hands, eyes, or any two of those, or that leaves the worker with paralyzed legs, arms, or trunk, or brain injury that results in severe disorders, or second- or third-degree burns over 33 percent of the body, PTD benefits can be paid for life at the TTD rate.
• Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits — Injuries that leave the worker with permanent impairment can result in a payment of benefits that is calculated based on an impairment rating, the schedule of injuries found in the Workers’ Compensation Act, and the worker’s average weekly wage.
• Vocational Rehabilitation — An injured worker can qualify for vocational rehabilitation if their injury results in permanent impairments that prevent them from performing their pre-injury work.

To understand the full value of what you may be owed, speak with our team about your Greensboro workers’ comp settlement options.

Talk to Hardison & Cochran About Your Greensboro Workplace Injury

If you’ve been injured on the job and need workers’ compensation benefits, you need the help of the skilled work injury lawyers at Hardison & Cochran | Injury & Workers Comp Lawyers. Our attorneys have been helping injured workers get Greensboro, NC, workers’ compensation for dangerous jobs for more than 40 years. We handle only workers’ compensation and personal injury cases, so we know how to build successful cases and win. For example, we secured $6.75 million for a delivery driver who was injured on the job.

Our law firm takes a client-first approach. We will answer your questions, return your calls, and put your best interests first when we represent you. Our clients have written reviews about working with us, and we’re pleased to share those with you.

When you’ve been injured while performing a dangerous job in Greensboro, you need help getting the benefits you deserve. Call Hardison & Cochran | Injury & Workers Comp Lawyers today for a free, no-obligation, fully confidential consultation with a Greensboro work injury lawyer.