Years of laying brick, spreading mortar, lifting stone, and mixing materials can take a serious toll on a mason’s body. If your shoulder aches every morning or your wrist has become too painful to grip a trowel, you may wonder whether workers’ compensation covers your ailments. The answer is yes; it may. In New Jersey, repetitive stress injuries can qualify for benefits just like a fall or other traumatic event. For instance, workers’ comp settlement for rotator cuff surgery may be available when the medical evidence shows your job materially contributed to the injury.
At Petro Cohen, we understand that these cases are different. There may be no single date when the injury occurred. Instead, the damage developed through years of demanding physical labor causing wear and tear on your body. Successfully proving that connection often makes the difference between a denied claim and the benefits you deserve.
Masonry Work Places Constant Stress on the Body
Masonry is one of the most physically demanding trades in construction. Every day, workers repeatedly lift heavy materials, reach overhead, carry loads across uneven ground, and perform thousands of forceful hand and arm movements. Over time, those repetitive motions can cause injuries such as:
- Rotator cuff tears,
- Labral tears,
- Shoulder impingement,
- Tendonitis,
- Carpal tunnel syndrome,
- Torn wrist ligaments, and
- Chronic tendon injuries.
According to the National Safety Council, construction workers experience thousands of musculoskeletal disorders each year, many involving the shoulders, hands, and wrists.
Unlike a broken bone from a fall, these injuries often develop gradually. Many masons continue working through the pain until they can no longer lift materials, swing a hammer, or maintain the grip strength their job requires. That gradual progression does not automatically prevent a workers’ compensation claim.
Is a Gradual Injury Still Compensable?
New Jersey’s Workers’ Compensation Act recognizes occupational diseases and conditions that develop as a result of the nature of a person’s work. A compensable occupational disease includes conditions that arise out of employment and are caused “in a material degree” by the characteristics of the occupation.
For masons, years of repetitive overhead work, vibration from tools, forceful gripping, and heavy lifting may satisfy that standard when medical evidence supports the connection. Overhead work and repetitive shoulder motion are recognized risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Insurance companies frequently argue that shoulder and wrist problems are simply part of aging. An experienced workers’ compensation attorney works with treating physicians and medical experts to demonstrate that the physical demands of masonry significantly contributed to the diagnosis, rather than the passage of time alone.
What Does a Workers’ Comp Settlement for Rotator Cuff Surgery Depend On?
Many injured workers search for information about a workers’ comp settlement for rotator cuff surgery, but there is no standard settlement amount. Several factors influence the value of a claim, including:
- The severity of the rotator cuff tear,
- Whether surgery was required,
- Permanent loss of shoulder function,
- Medical expenses,
- Time missed from work, and
- Permanent disability ratings under New Jersey workers’ compensation law.
The same is true for a labrum tear shoulder workers’ comp settlement. Two workers with similar diagnoses may receive very different outcomes depending on their medical restrictions, recovery, and the strength of the evidence connecting the injury to years of masonry work.
Rather than relying on online averages, it is far more important to build a well-supported claim from the beginning.
Wrist Injuries Can Be Just As Serious
Shoulder injuries often receive the most attention, but repetitive wrist injuries can be just as limiting for masons. Years of gripping trowels, lifting concrete blocks, twisting while setting stone, and operating vibrating power tools place constant stress on the small joints, tendons, and nerves in the wrist.
Those repetitive motions can lead to conditions such as tendonitis, ligament tears, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic injuries that make it difficult, or even impossible, to continue working in the trade.
If you are researching a wrist injury workers’ comp settlement, the most important question is not what someone else received. It’s whether the medical evidence shows that the repetitive demands of your masonry work materially caused or accelerated your condition. Building that connection between years of labor and your diagnosis is often the key to obtaining workers’ compensation benefits.
How Do You Prove the Injury Came from Masonry Work?
A repetitive trauma or wear and tear case is rarely won with one piece of evidence. Instead, successful claims often rely on a complete picture of the worker’s career. As a mason, injury evidence may include:
- Years spent performing masonry work;
- Job descriptions showing repetitive overhead lifting and heavy material handling;
- Medical records documenting symptom progression;
- MRI findings confirming rotator cuff, labrum, or wrist injuries; and
- Physicians’ opinions connecting the diagnosis to workplace activities.
An insurance carrier may claim your condition is simply degenerative. Petro Cohen, P.C. works to demonstrate how your daily work may have substantially accelerated or contributed to the damage, helping establish the connection between your work and your injury.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process: