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

• A. 15%
• B. 14%
• C. 19%
• D. 21%

Answer: (B)

When you assign a permanent impairment, you look at the actual loss of function in the whole person, not just the injured tissue. For eye injuries, the impairment rating reflects how much the vision is functionally reduced after the injury, using the AMA Guides.

A chemical burn to the eyes can cause lasting but not total damage to vision. If that damage is moderate, resulting in a stable but partial loss of visual function, the eye impairment component typically lands around 14% of the whole person impairment. That’s why 14% is the best fit here.

Age doesn’t change this impairment value itself—the 27-year-old status matters more for how impairment translates into disability benefits in some calculations, but the rating percentage for the eye injury is determined by the level of permanent vision loss. The higher percentages would indicate more severe vision loss than described, so they don’t apply to this scenario.