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Workers' Compensation
Hand and Finger Injuries at Work
There are two claims in a serious hand injury. A great many workers only ever make one of them.
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The claim you know about, and the one nobody mentions.
When a hand is injured at work the claim that follows covers the obvious things: the treatment, the surgery, and the wages lost while you could not work. That claim gets filed, it runs its course, and at some point the file closes.
Ohio also compensates the permanent loss of use of a body part, separately from all of that. It is not a reward for time off and it is not the same money. It exists because losing the use of a thumb is a permanent loss whether or not you got back to work afterwards, and it is assessed on its own footing.
Workers routinely settle or close the first claim without anyone having raised the second. That is the single most valuable thing on this page, and it is the reason a hand injury is worth a conversation even if you are already back at work.
What this page covers
Crush injuries, amputation of fingers or thumb, tendon and nerve damage, fractures, degloving injuries, burns, and permanent loss of grip or fine movement following any of these.
- The ordinary claim Treatment and wages while you were off.
- The loss of use claim Separate, permanent, and frequently never made.
- The thumb is not one fifth It carries most of the hand. Claims treating digits alike understate it.
- Closing cuts it off Settle without raising it and it generally goes with everything else.
What a hand injury at work actually involves
Including the parts that get injured at the same time and left off the claim.
Two claims from one injury
They run on different rules, they are proved with different evidence, and having one does not give you the other.
| What is being compared | The lost-time claim Treatment, and wages while you could not work | The loss of use claim Permanent loss of the part, regardless of time off |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | The lost-time claim Medical care for the injury and compensation for the period you were unable to earn. | The loss of use claim The permanent loss of a finger, a thumb, a hand, or the use of one, as a loss in itself. |
| When it ends | The lost-time claim When you recover and return to work, or when the claim is settled or closed. | The loss of use claim It does not depend on recovery. Somebody back at full duties can still have lost the use of a thumb. |
| What proves it | The lost-time claim Treatment records, work restrictions and evidence of the wages you lost. | The loss of use claim A measured assessment of what the part can still do. Usually an examination arranged for the purpose, not a routine appointment. |
| Where it goes wrong | The lost-time claim Injuries to the wrist or forearm in the same event get left out of the allowed conditions. | The loss of use claim Nobody raises it. The first claim closes, the worker assumes that was everything, and the second is gone. |
| What we would tell you to do | The lost-time claim and The loss of use claim Do not agree to close or settle a hand claim without somebody looking at whether a loss of use claim exists in it. That review costs you nothing and it is the whole reason this page is here. | |
Why hand claims are undervalued even when they are allowed
The injury is accepted, the treatment is paid for, and the claim still ends up worth far less than it should. Four reasons, all of them avoidable.
The allowed conditions are too narrow
A claim allowed for a finger fracture does not automatically cover the nerve damage, the tendon injury or the wrist that was hurt in the same machine. Anything not listed is not covered, and adding conditions later is harder than getting them on at the start.
Nobody measured the function
Grip strength, pinch strength and range of motion are the language a hand claim is argued in, and routine follow-up appointments rarely record any of them. Without measurements there is nothing to compare against, and a claim about function has no evidence of function.
Dominance is ignored
An injury to the hand you write, work and eat with is not the same injury as the one to the other side, and files frequently do not say which hand it was.
Light duty hid the problem
Somebody moved to a role that avoids using the hand looks recovered on paper. They are not, and if the arrangement ends the underlying limitation is still there with nothing in the record describing it.
Questions
Work hand injury questions
General information, not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. The only way to know where yours stands is to have someone look at it.
I lost part of a finger. Is that worth a claim?
Yes, and it is one of the situations where a separate loss of use claim most often exists and most often goes unmade. Partial loss counts. Speak to somebody before you agree to close anything, even if the injury seems minor and you are back at work.
I went back to work, so is it too late?
Returning to work does not end a claim for permanent loss, because the two things measure different losses. What can end it is closing or settling the claim without the loss of use question having been raised, which is why the timing of any settlement discussion matters.
My hand works, it just does not work properly.
That is what a loss of use claim is about. Reduced grip, a thumb that will not oppose properly, fingers that will not fully close, numbness that makes you drop things. It has to be measured rather than described, and arranging that assessment is part of what we do.
The employer says it was a pre-existing condition.
That argument is common with wrists and tendons, less so with crush and laceration injuries where the event is obvious. If it is being raised, what usually answers it is what you were doing before: the job you held, the tasks you performed and the absence of any previous treatment.
How long do I have to bring this?
There are time limits and they are not the same for every part of a claim, so the safe answer is to ask early rather than assume.
The appeal deadlines
Ohio workers compensation runs on short deadlines, and they are the reason most appeals are lost rather than the merits.
An order of the Bureau is appealed to the Industrial Commission within 14 days. An order of a District Hearing Officer is appealed to a Staff Hearing Officer within 14 days. An order of a Staff Hearing Officer is appealed to the full Industrial Commission within 14 days.
Where the dispute is about your right to participate in the fund at all, there is a further appeal to the Court of Common Pleas, and that one runs for 60 days.
A dispute about the extent of your disability does not go to the common pleas court. That is challenged only through a mandamus action, which is a different proceeding on a different standard. It is one of the most common misunderstandings we see, and it costs people appeals.
Other Workers' Compensation pages
The rest of this practice area, in case your situation fits one of them better.
All Workers' Compensation
Ohio BWC claims, denials and appeals.
Denied Claims
A BWC denial is the start of the appeal, not the end of the claim.
Workplace Injuries
The injuries we see most, and whether yours is covered.
Workers' Comp Settlements
Settling closes the claim. What to know before you agree a figure.
Back Injuries
The most disputed work injury in Ohio. Reporting and causation.
Shoulder Injuries
Rotator cuff claims, and the overhead restriction that ends jobs.
Knee Injuries
Beating the degenerative argument with what you did before.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Proving a head injury when the scan came back clear.
Foot Injuries
The light duty offer, and whether the sit-down job is a real one.
Occupational Diseases
No accident and no date. Causation built from an employment history.
Workplace Death Claims
A claim that belongs to the family, and needs no fault at all.
The three areas we handle
One incident can open more than one claim, and they are handled together here.
Client Reviews
What our clients say
Casper and Casper has taken care of my family for years my dad was hurt really bad and handicapped the rest of his life they helped him getting everything he needed and now that i was hurt on the job they have taken care of me
Shannon Jones
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I was injured on the job a while ago, and my employer decided that instead of taking care of me, they would let me go, even though I reported the injury. I contacted Dan Allnutt, of Casper, Casper & Casper, and told him my problem. He and his team went to work and got me the surgery i needed, and the workman's compensation I was due to get back to where I am today. Kim Chupka was an incredible rock, and every time I had a complaint or question, she was always there, with an answer.
James Morinelli
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Doug Casper helped me with my Workman's Compensation claim, including a hearing before the Ohio Industrial Commission, in which he was successful. He was able to obtain total compensation for my hearing aids, which were desperately needed after a profession where I was continously over-exposed to very high decibel noise. Thank you Doug Casper!
Steve Poulemanos
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Joni Hayes the best the lady saved Christmas. She was on top of this self insured employer of mine that dint wanna pay up was two months. when I hired them she fixed the problem in couple hours and was holiday season wow she was amazing I totally recommend
Randy Cardenas
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I have Doug Casper for my workers comp. He has helped me tremendously. I am now also working with Steve for my disability. Steve also helped us so so much when my late husband needed help with his illness. I have recommended this group to anyone who would need a lawyer.
Tracy Riley
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