Every year thousands of workers are killed or seriously injured on the job. This occurs even though many state and federal regulations, as well as industry standards, require employers to implement a wide variety of safety measures.

Workers’ compensation laws are designed to ensure that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are compensated for their monetary losses. These laws also provide benefits for dependents of those workers who are killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses. Although workmen's compensation benefits aide employees while injured on the job, they are usually not sufficient to fully compensate injured workers for all damages sustained as a result of their work-related accident.

Under Illinois State Law, employees cannot sue their employers for damages sustained as a result of a work-related accident. In order to receive reasonable compensation for their injuries, workers must commence lawsuits against parties other than their employer. In addition to workman's compensation benefits, additional damages that can be recovered in these lawsuits include pain and suffering, additional wage loss benefits, additional medical benefits, and loss of services for the spouse.

Injured workers also have the right to appeal a judge's decision with respect to their compensation claim provided they file a written application for review within 30 days after the decision has been made.