A 27 year old chemist has a chemical burn to the eyes in 2010 producing a 14% whole person impairment. What is the rating?

A 27 year old chemist has a chemical burn to the eyes in 2010 producing a 14% whole person impairment. What is the rating?

• A. 14%
• B. 15%
• C. 19%
• D. 21%

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is what the impairment percentage represents. A 27-year-old with a chemical burn to the eye has a whole person impairment measured and expressed as a percentage of the whole person. If the evaluation yields 14% whole person impairment, that 14% is the impairment rating itself. In California SIP evaluations, the impairment rating is the WPI value; age and occupation modifiers come into play later when converting the WPI into a final permanent disability rating, but they do not change the impairment percentage itself. So the rating given by a 14% WPI is simply 14%.

The main idea here is what the impairment percentage represents. A 27-year-old with a chemical burn to the eye has a whole person impairment measured and expressed as a percentage of the whole person. If the evaluation yields 14% whole person impairment, that 14% is the impairment rating itself. In California SIP evaluations, the impairment rating is the WPI value; age and occupation modifiers come into play later when converting the WPI into a final permanent disability rating, but they do not change the impairment percentage itself. So the rating given by a 14% WPI is simply 14%.