Workers' compensation benefits are available to employees who are injured on the job. Though every business in Pennsylvania is required to purchase a workers' compensation policy, the benefits are not always easy to obtain. To get them, the injured worker must file a workers' compensation claim. In many cases the claim is at least initially denied.

Recently, a man from Forks Township who suffered a stroke at work was awarded workers' compensation benefits by a workers' compensation judge. The benefits he secured cover 66 percent of what he was paid on a weekly basis. The award was made despite the man's history of high blood pressure.

At the time he suffered the stroke, the man was working at a foundry called Victaulic Co. He was in a "hot room" working as an auto pour operator. His work duties include carrying full buckets up stairs, removing slag from the furnace by utilizing a jackhammer and monitoring the temperature of the furnaces.

According to the injured worker, due to two furnaces nearby, the temperature of the room was 100 degrees. Because of the dangerous environment in which he was working, at the time of the incident, the man was reportedly wearing welding clothes and a fire suit.

A stroke is not a reason that is commonly cited in a request for workers' compensation benefits. Accordingly, the case ended-up in front of a workers' compensation judge. The judge awarded the benefits after it was determined that the man's working conditions played a role in the stroke occurring.

Victaulic Co. has filed an appeal.

Source: The Morning Call, "Victaulic foundry employee wins workers' comp for on-the-job stroke," Peter Hall, Feb. 20, 2012