$0 on the day it starts can still turn into a serious injury claim later - kind of like a hinge that loosens one tiny turn at a time until the door finally drops.

In Minnesota, a Gillette injury is a workers' compensation injury caused by repetitive minute trauma rather than one clear accident. Instead of a single fall, crush, or machine incident, the damage builds over days, months, or years of repeated work tasks: cutting, lifting, gripping, twisting, overhead reaching, loud noise exposure, and similar strain. The term comes from a Minnesota court case and is a well-known part of state workers' compensation law.

This matters because employers and insurers often look for one specific injury date. With a Gillette injury, that date may be the point when the condition became serious enough to disable the worker, require treatment, or make continued job duties unrealistic. That can affect notice, medical proof, and wage-loss benefits. Claims often rise or fall on medical opinions connecting the repetitive work to the condition - for example, carpal tunnel syndrome, a shoulder injury, or work-related hearing loss.

Minnesota workers' compensation claims are handled through the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. If fault is disputed, the state's comparative fault rule usually does not control the way it would in a regular injury lawsuit, because workers' comp is generally a no-fault system. But deadlines and medical documentation still matter a great deal.