No one goes to work with the intention of getting hurt, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. If you do find yourself involved in an accident while you are at work, there are certain things you need to know to take care of yourself and be compensated for the work you will miss while recovering from your injuries.
Below we have included some information you need to know when you suffer from an injury. The better informed you are, the more you can move forward with getting the outcome you need when seeking things like compensation.
Don’t Forget to Notify Your Employer
Understandably when you are injured at work, the first thing that crosses your mind is seeking medical attention and recovering from the injury you have sustained. However, this isn’t the next step in the plan that you need to take.
Before you do anything else, regardless of whether the injury you have sustained is mild or severe, you first need to contact your employer about the injury. They need to be notified that you were injured while at work, so they can begin to investigate the circumstances surrounding your accident.
The employer will also need to contact the legal team for the company and ensure the paperwork needed to provide worker’s compensation is ready when the employee’s legal representation contacts the company.
Ensure that when you notify your employer, you do so in writing; whether it is by email or a letter, you have to start creating a paper trail. As you continue to seek help for your injury, the last thing you want to do is to backtrack and dig through piles of correspondence, determining if you notified them before the entire process began.
After contacting the company about the accident, you should go further and let them know about any witnesses present during the accident. These witnesses may be interviewed by legal representatives for each party to ensure that all the facts of the case are correct.
Hire Legal Representation
The next thing you need to do is find a lawyer to represent you in your case. Typically, most will say you need to begin filing your claim, but if you don’t understand the steps to take, hiring the right legal representation will aid you in the process.
Your legal team will understand the paperwork to file and when you need to submit your claim for processing ahead of your case. The claim you are submitting is to ensure you receive the funds you need to cover medical care and things like missed wages for the days you will be out of work recovering.
When you file the claim for your injury, your lawyer will ask you to begin collecting evidence. According to Paul Giannetti, an Albany Workers Compensation Attorney, your lawyer understands what will help make your case and fight to get you the compensation you need. When you provide the lawyer with the documentation, they can sort through it and ensure you have the right evidence required while getting rid of what you don’t need.
The lawyer will also handle all communication between you and your employer. It can be scary to have to speak to your employer after you have been injured, but with the right legal representative, you don’t have to deal with this because they will do it for you.
What About Other Injuries
For most people, injuries sustained at work are the only ones that are covered by workers’ compensation. However, there are some instances where you might not be present in the workplace and end up getting injured.
The majority of the time, this would not be covered by your employer, but there are some exceptions to the rule. For instance, if you were running an errand for your boss or going to and from work meetings and become injured, you could seek compensation for it.
If this is when you have sustained an injury, you need to check with your lawyer to ask them if the workers’ compensation is covered. This is a gray area, but it doesn’t mean you are not entitled to any type of coverage or help from your employer to get the help you need to recover.
Get Medical Attention
You need to seek medical attention for your injuries because leaving an injury as it is can lead to a host of other problems, including illness and the risk of infection. While medical attention is intended to care for you, it is also meant to create documentation of the severity of your problem.
This medical documentation will need to be submitted to your legal team to include in your file that will be used as evidence in court. There are several things documented in the medical file after you seek assistance, including:
- The severity of your injuries
- Ongoing treatment needed to recover from the injury
- If the injury will leave you permanently disabled
- Loss of limb function
- Doctors notes
If necessary, in most worker’s compensation cases, your legal team will meet with your doctor and have them testify as an expert witness. After you seek initial medical attention, you need to continue attending all the following appointments.
When you miss an appointment or don’t seek medical attention, it can make people begin to question the integrity of your injury and whether it really did happen at work or not.
Worker’s Compensation and Everything You Need to Know
Worker’s compensation isn’t always as black and white as it might seem. Before you do anything else, you need to ensure you notify your employer about the injury and anyone that was present in the area when the accident happened.
Being proactive in seeking help for your injury is the best thing to do and the first step in healing from your injury. Please speak with a lawyer and ask them what you need to do and how to move forward with your new reality.
Want to know more about workplace injuries? Don’t skip out on the information we have to offer you.