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Your ankles connect your feet to your legs and are the part of your body that supports your weight and keeps you moving. If you have suffered an injury to your ankle you will know all too well the impact that this can have on your life.
Ankle injuries at work can happen as a result of something as simple as a slip, trip or fall. According to Safe Work Australia, ankle injuries account for 16.7% of all slip, trip and fall related injuries, and can be caused by environmental hazards (such as poor lighting, or spills), unsuitable footwear, human error, or other factors. Ankle injuries can also happen in car accidents, while out walking in a public place, or while playing sport.
We are going to look at how you can go about claiming compensation for an ankle injury that happened at work, or due to the negligence of someone else. Whether you have an ankle sprain, a broken ankle, ligament or tendon damage, or another type of injury, Murphy’s Law are Brisbane personal injury claims lawyers and can provide legal advice on how to proceed with your claim for pain and suffering and financial loss.
The ankle is a hinge joint which connects the bones of the lower leg with the foot, permitting the foot to bend upwards and downwards. An injury to the ankle can happen as a result of damage to the bones, ligaments, tendons or muscle/soft tissue.
Ankle injuries are relatively common in the workplace, but can also happen while exercising or playing sport, or if you are involved in an accident while using the roads, whether to run, walk, cycle, or drive a car or motorbike.
If the ankle is injured it requires time to heal and recover, which often involves bed rest and immobilisation of the joint to permit proper healing without further inflaming the area.
Some of the more common types of ankle (and related area) injuries include:
An ankle injury can happen in any number of ways. You could be walking to walk and trip on a raised piece of pavement, rolling your ankle and hurting muscle or ligaments in the process. Or you might fall off a ladder or scaffold at work and hit the ground, resulting in a broken bone.
Of the many ways these injuries occur, the inescapable fact is that ankle injuries often require medical treatment and can require time off work (and life) as you recover.
Some of the common causes of ankle injuries include:
Broken ankles are difficult to recover from for a variety of reasons; but mainly as the ankle is a delicate area and requires correct setting of bones and treatment to ensure that you do not suffer complications later in life. A broken ankle generally requires immobilisation, and then the use of a cast or ‘moon boot’ to ensure stability in the joint while the ankle heals.
Recovery may also require physiotherapy to ensure the muscles around the joint are strong enough to ensure a repeat injury does not occur. If your broken ankle has been set incorrectly and causes you pain, you may even have a claim for medical negligence. Speak to our personal injury solicitor team about how we can help.
Ankle fusion is a very specific form of treatment whereby the foot and lower leg are fused using fixation devices which could be a combination of pins and rods. This type of surgery is often required where a person suffers deterioration in the joint due to arthritis or a type of injury where the ankle joint has been shattered and cannot be fixed.
If your injury was caused by negligence and caused a past and/or future loss of earnings then you may be entitled to compensation. Having a free initial chat with our experts will provide more information specific to your situation.
An ankle sprain ranges from mild to severe - with the mild requiring some minor rest and recovery, and a severe sprain resulting in physiotherapy and a longer term of recuperation. If you have injured your ankle at work, it is worth opening a WorkCover claim even if you only have a couple of days off work, as this claim will also assist with medical expenses and any financial loss due to being unable to work.
Speak to our personal injury lawyers about your ankle sprain injury if you are wondering if it is worth commencing a claim for compensation.
Ligaments are the things that hold our muscles and bones together and keep our feet and ankles moving. If you have damaged a ligament, you may require surgery to ensure a full recovery.
The amount of downtime you have from ankle ligament damage can range from short to longer term, always depending on the severity of your injury. If your ligaments have been damaged in a workplace accident, or through an accident that was not your fault, you can commence a WorkCover claim or a claim for compensation.
Claims for ankle injuries that happen in the course of work are possible regardless of fault with WorkCover. It is simply a process of reporting your injury to your employer at the first opportunity, seeking medical treatment, and then advising WorkCover of your intention to claim within six months of your injury taking place.
If your injury has come about where there was negligence of your employer or another party (say for example you were involved in a car accident) then you can speak to our work accident lawyers about how to start a no win no fee claim.
A claim for ankle injury compensation looks at the way in which your injury has impacted on your life and seeks to place you in a position - at least financially - as if the injury had not occurred.
What this means is that any reasonable costs associated with your ankle injury are calculated and then a final figure is arrived at, taking into consideration medical expenses, ongoing rehabilitation treatment, potentially for personal care, financial loss (such as lost earnings, superannuation, or future earning capacity), pain and suffering, and any other associated and reasonable losses.
Speak to our personal injury lawyers for more information about how your ankle injury claim is calculated and to find out how we can help you commence your no win no fee claim for compensation.
There is a specific period you have in which to commence your claim for compensation for an ankle injury. If you were injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you have three years in which to commence your claim.
However, there are other time limits which are associated with these types of claims, so it is important to get legal advice as soon as possible to ensure you can pursue your claim successfully.
If you are making a claim for WorkCover you must advise your employer at the earliest opportunity, and then advise WorkCover within six months of your injury of your intention to claim. Read more about time limits for specific claim types.