Falling victim to a workplace injury can be distressing for any worker. Besides the physical pain and trauma, a severe injury and the following treatment can be a devastating blow to a worker and their family, both emotionally and financially.
If you ever sustain an injury at the workplace, there are a few critical steps you should take to protect your legal rights and claim workers’ compensation for your losses. This article will serve as a clear guide on the vital steps you must take after suffering an accident at work.
Know Your Rights
Every state has a set of compensation laws that helps employees with injuries sustained while on the clock. If you have been injured at a Charleston workplace, you may be eligible to receive compensation benefits that cover your immediate and long-term medical expenses.
Workers have the right to pursue a compensation claim without fear of reprisal or harassment from their employer. They can also appeal the decision by their employer or the employer’s insurance company if it does not suit their expectations.
What to Do After a Workplace Injury
Unfortunately, many employers and insurance companies will try to resist paying out workers’ compensation benefits. Accordingly, following a set of the established procedures will ensure you receive the fair compensation you are entitled to if you ever suffer a workplace injury. They are as follows:
Report the Injury Immediately
The first and foremost action you must take is to notify your employer about the accident within a specified period, usually 45 days. The longer you wait to report it, the harder it will be to prove that it took place on the job.
Make sure you inform the management in writing to create a clear timeline and notice of the accident. Email your supervisor, thoroughly explaining how the injury occurred and what caused it. Failure to report in a timely fashion is one of the significant reasons why employers try to discredit victims from their claim and deny providing benefits.
Seek Medical Care
Following the accident, you must seek first aid at the workplace and consult your primary care provider as soon as possible. Even if the injury appears to be minor, it may become a severe condition without timely treatment. Remember, your compensation claim will primarily center around whether or not you received immediate medical care and the reports about it.
Neglecting to receive immediate medical attention gives your employer or insurance company the rationale to argue that it was not directly related to the job or perhaps was a pre-existing condition. That may drastically undermine your claim.
Record Witness Statements
Employers and insurance agencies can go to lengths to deny victims of their benefits and lower their settlement amount. A run-of-the-mill tactic is to dispute the victim’s statements regarding how the injury took place. They may attempt to insinuate that the injury was a cause of your carelessness or neglect rather than unsafe working conditions.
Obtaining written statements from any eyewitnesses with their signature can go a long way in proving that the injury took place at the workplace, and as you described, helping you secure a favorable judgment.
Gather Evidence
Assuming your injuries are not so severe as to warrant emergency care, it is in your best interests to collect all available evidence after the accident that may help support your claim.
Look around for any surveillance cameras in the work area and request a copy of the footage. Take multiple photographs and videos of the accident scene with your cell phone, including the objects or cause of the injury. That will defend you from any bogus accusations put forward by a dishonest employer and help validate your claim.
Keep Records
Take the time to jot down all the details related to your injury, similar to a diary. These include the date and time, witness names, interactions with employer or insurance companies, doctor’s office visits, and more.
All this crucial information could serve as vital evidence to counter any disputing arguments from the employer or insurer.
File a Claim
Contacting an experienced workers’ compensation attorney to file a workplace injury claim can help you receive the monetary benefits that you may be eligible for under the law. A skilled lawyer with years of dedicated experience gives you robust legal representation that will enhance the odds of securing the maximum benefits for your losses. Most lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, whereby you do not owe them a penny until and unless they bring you the justice you deserve.
Recovering workers’ compensation you may be entire to is a complex process, even more so when you have a resistant employer or insurance company who will fight tooth and nail to discredit you from your claim.
A seasoned attorney will help formulate the best legal strategy for your case and fight diligently in your best interests, all while transcending the manipulative tactics used by greedy insurance companies to deny you your legal rights.
Every employee deserves to work in a safe and healthy work environment. However, sometimes employers fall short of fulfilling this duty, often resulting in horrendous workplace accidents. With that said, accidents can occur despite every effort to create safe working conditions.
Accordingly, it is vital to have a clear understanding of dealing with a workplace accident in the best possible way and proceeding to file a workers’ compensation claim.
Published on Holr Magazine