When someone in Kentucky hears another say that they were injured on the job, most people think of a singular accident. It may be that they fell from a high height, were struck by a falling object, burned by a loose electrical wire or some other related accident. However, workplace injuries do not have to occur as the result of one single accident or any accident at all.

Employees may seek workers' compensation benefits for injuries or illnesses that slowly develop or occur because of exposure to something harmful to their bodies. A workers' compensation judge recently awarded a 50-year-old man temporary benefits for the time spent recovering from a stroke or permanent if he remains disabled.

The man had worked in a foundry as an auto pour operator. The area in which he worked had an extremely elevated temperature ranging around 100 degrees because of two furnaces located in the room. The clothes he was required to wear while hauling heavy buckets up stairs consisted of welding clothes which were worn underneath a thick fire suit.

After working for the company on and off for approximately 22 years, the man had a stroke on May 13, 2010. The stroke not prevented the man from returning to work but could leave him paralyzed on his left side for the rest of his life.

The judge ruled that the heat and physical stress of his working conditions played a significant role in causing the man's stroke. This, the judge ruled made him eligible for the benefits which equal 66 percent of his weekly compensation.

Although strokes, heart attacks and some psychological injuries are less common than the falling scaffolding, it does not mean that an injured employee cannot obtain the compensation they need. If you have been injured on the job in any way, an attorney will fight for the benefits you deserve.

Source: The Morning Call, "Victaulic foundry employee wins workers' comp for on-the-job stroke," Peter Hall, Feb. 20, 2012