If fatigue contributed to your injury, you may be left worrying that it is your fault or that your workplace is unsafe. Being tired on the job can lead to accidents, but it doesn’t necessarily make them happen.
Generally, worker fault is not an element of Workers’ Comp. You can get benefits even if you were at fault for your own accident, as long as it was not intentional or caused by drug/alcohol use or illegal activity. However, the fact that you were allowed to go to work tired might be a violation on your employer’s part that could get them in trouble with OSHA.
For help with your injury claim, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
Can I Get Workers’ Comp if the Injury Was Caused by Fatigue?
Generally, the cause of an accident does not affect your eligibility for benefits unless it falls into a few exceptions or actually makes the accident unrelated to your work.
Elements for Workers’ Comp
A Work Comp claim is only covered if
- You are an employee, not an independent contractor
- Your injury happened within the scope of your job duties, whether because of workplace conditions or work-related activities
- You were disabled for at least 7 days.
Worker-Caused Injuries
Note that none of these elements deal with fault. You can make a Workers’ Comp claim if your employer was at fault, but you can also make a claim if you, a coworker, or an outside party was at fault.
An employee’s own fault does not stop a claim unless they caused the injury
- Intentionally
- Through drug use
- Through alcohol use
- Through illegal acts.
Note that even if drugs or alcohol were present in your system, our Bucks County, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers may still be able to bring your claim so long as the cause was something else, such as your tiredness or negligence.
Can I Report My Employer for Injuries While Tired?
While you might think of being tired as your own fault, that isn’t necessarily how the law sees it. If you were too tired to work, and your employer allowed you to do your job anyway, that could be incredibly dangerous and might even be an OSHA violation.
OSHA Rules
Employers in all kinds of industries have restrictions on hours to prevent tired workers from injuring themselves or others. One example is Hours of Service rules for truckers, promulgated by the FMCSA instead of OSHA, which prevent driving for more than 11 hours in a day or past the 14th hour after you start your day.
Tired workers should also be taken off duty when it comes to using heavy machinery, operating vehicles, or climbing scaffolding.
In some cases, these might be OSHA violations or other regulatory violations.
Making a Report
If your employer did violate OSHA rules or other state or federal regulations, you may be entitled to report them. This process is usually simple and goes through the state or federal agency responsible. For example, OSHA complaints can be made online or through other ways discussed on this OSHA webpage.
Once you report a violation, your employer will be investigated. This could result in stop-work orders, fines, and mandatory retraining to help avoid future issues, or it could result in a business being shut down if it is dangerous enough.
Making an OSHA report is often very important because it can help protect others from being injured like you were.
Can I Sue for Work Injuries Caused by Fatigue
Depending on how the accident happened, you could be entitled to sue outside third parties.
When Lawsuits Barred
Workers’ Comp rules prevent lawsuits against an employer for work-related injuries.
Because fault is an element in lawsuits, the courts might consider the accident your fault and block a lawsuit if it was your own fatigue that caused your accident.
You also typically cannot sue an employer for your coworker’s tiredness.
Third-Party Liability
However, injuries caused by someone else’s fatigue might be their fault.
A common example is when truckers or other commercial drivers for other companies cause a crash at your workplace or while you are driving for work. Those drivers and their employers can often be held liable for driver fatigue.
This could entitle you to sue customers, vendors, suppliers, or outside contractors who injure you because of their fatigue.
FAQs for Injuries from Fatigue and Workers’ Comp Claims
Is the Accident Your Fault if You Were Tired?
Working while tired in some industries is incredibly dangerous and might be negligent or even reckless. However, that is not the relevant standard for a Workers’ Comp claim.
Instead, you need to show that your injury was work-related, and it will not make a difference if it was your negligence or someone else’s that caused the accident. If what you did was illegal or intentional, then benefits would be blocked.
What if I Was Using Substances to Stay Awake?
Working while tired might be dangerous, and doing so while using drugs or alcohol might be even more dangerous. If your substance use was the cause of your injury rather than your tiredness, that might stop your claim.
However, if the injury was caused by your negligence or tiredness, not the drug or alcohol use, then that might not stop your claim. Additionally, caffeine use usually doesn’t count against you.
What Benefits Does Workers’ Comp Pay?
Workers’ Comp typically pays for medical bills, plus around 2/3 of lost earnings for injured workers. This only applies if your injury was work-related and stops you from working for at least 7 days.
If you can work partially, then your wage-loss benefits are 2/3 of the difference in wages before and after the accident instead.
Benefits can also include compensation for specific permanent injuries like lost hearing, lost vision, serious facial scars, lost function, and amputation.
Is it Illegal to Operate Machinery While Tired?
Another thing that might stop you from being able to make a Workers’ Comp claim is if it was illegal to perform your work tasks while tired. This typically needs to be a criminal violation – an actual misdemeanor or felony – not just a traffic violation or regulatory violation.
Call Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Pennsylvania Today
For a free case evaluation, call Cardamone Law’s Altoona, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
