GQ Corner
Q. The injured worker is employed as a construction worker. On the date of injury, he was tasked with digging a ditch for underground wires. As he was packing up to leave for the day, the injured worker was struck by lightning. Would this lightning strike be considered an Act of God, and therefore not compensable?
A. The Appeals Panel considered lightning strikes in Appeals Panel Decision number 950020. In that case, the hearing officer found that the Claimant was killed by a bolt of lightning, that the lightning strike was an act of God, that the Claimant was exposed to a greater risk of injury from lightning strike than the general public, and that the claim was compensable (Section 406.032). The AP affirmed. The AP noted that there was no expert evidence of a comparison between the risk of the deceased in his work environment being struck by lightning and the risk of the general public being struck by lightning. The AP stated, however, that the extra hazard may be established by the general nature of the work. Here, the nature of the work placed the deceased in an open field near the steel valve of a pipeline and in the vicinity of a bulldozer. In your case, it appears that the nature of the injured employee’s work placed him at a greater risk of being struck by lightning than the general public. It will likely be deemed compensable unless the carrier can show that the nature of the work did not exposure the injured worker to a greater risk of lightning strikes.
Q. I have previously filed a PLN-11 to dispute that the compensable injury extends to include a right ankle fracture. After the filing of my PLN-11, it has become clear (through medical evidence) that the fracture is related to the compensable injury. Is there a formal process to rescind my PLN-11 in order to accept the ankle fracture?
A. The only way to “rescind” a PLN-11 is to sign a DWC-24, agreeing that the compensable injury extends to include the ankle fracture. Additionally, the PLN-11 is a document that only provides information as to the carrier’s position with respect to the payment of benefits at the time that it is filed. If you simply start paying for treatment to the ankle, and initiate indemnity benefits where applicable as related to the fracture, then it is unnecessary to do anything further.
Q. I received a designated doctor’s report that exposes the carrier to a 10% impairment rating. How long do I have until I must initiate the 10% in impairment income benefits?
A. Rule 130.8 states that the carrier must initiate payments within 5 days of receiving the report. Since designated doctors have presumptive weight, the carrier is required to pay those benefits as if the benefits were an order of the DWC.
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