Every day people have workplace accidents that lead to minor or life-threatening injuries that could make them unable to work for the rest of their life. Most of these workplace injuries are usually factory-related, and they often lead to able-bodied persons becoming another number to the statistics of people with disability or disfigurement.
When you survive an accident and recover from the shock, the questions running through your mind are usually, how serious are your injuries? Will I suffer permanent damage? How will I pay the bills?.
However, when it is a workplace accident, your questions have an addendum about ‘who you should notify’ and ‘what you should do.’ This guide will help you answer the multiple questions on your mind after a workplace injury.
Hire an experienced work injury attorney
An experienced work injury attorney may be the only saving grace to help you access your compensation claim and receive your benefits. Attorneys that understand accident claims have deep knowledge about how the system works, for instance, the LPW law firm can help you determine the value of your workers’ comp claim in South Carolina. You need to hire an attorney who can help you navigate state laws covering workers’ comp benefits and make sure you don’t get overwhelmed by piling medical bills.
A work injury lawyer can help you navigate the compensation claim process and not get swindled by the law, insurance company, or your employer.
Seek medical attention
Do not give this a second thought after recovering from the aftershock of the accident, seek medical attention. If the accident occurred on the work premises, there may be a medical center that would give you first aid treatment before transferring you to specialist hospitals for your injury.
When this is not the case, find a co-worker to drive you to the closest emergency medical facility or call 911 and request an ambulance. Some employers are guilty of causing delays when requesting medical treatment for on-the-work injuries, You just ensure to not fall victim to letting a bad injury case get worse.
However, if the workplace injury has been building up for a long time, like a back, neck, or knee injury, visit a doctor to confirm the diagnosis and how you can treat or manage it.
Learn about your rights as an injured worker
Workers’ compensation law is a complicated terrain in all states and can be nearly impossible to understand without help, but you need to know the basics.
Does your employer have a workers’ compensation health care network? Are you covered under the workers’ compensation classification for your injury? Do you know how to calculate Average Weekly Wages (AWW)? Is your type of on-the-job injury entitled to workers’ compensation benefits based on the state’s pre-set schedule?
How long can you draw from your benefit depending on the severity of your injury? What is the maximum amount of compensation you can receive every week based on your state’s weekly compensation rate? Is your type of injury qualified for a lifetime benefit?
These are some things you should make inquiries about. Get information on workplace injuries and compensation, if it gets too overwhelming, hire an experienced work injury lawyer.
Report the injury to your employer
For a long-suffering injury that has been building up over the years, when you get a doctor’s report or diagnosis, inform your employer immediately. You are not a complainer or whiner; you are just concerned about your health, so let your employer know when you get a work-related injury diagnosis.
In case the accident happened while on the job, do not assume that your employer knows, once you stabilize and recuperate from the injury, inform your employer or supervisor of the injury because you will need to fill an incident report explaining the accident and injury.
When you cannot report a job-related accident or work injury, they can use it against you and lead to denying you workers’ compensation benefits.
Document everything
This is a critical step, assume that no evidence supports that you got injured on the job, so document it for yourself. Everyone has a smartphone now, use the camera on yours to take pictures of the job accident scene and any injuries suffered from it.
Have digital and hard copies of your medical reports, keep track of your visits to the doctor, digitize your rehabilitation process too. Record the conversion where you reported the injury to your employer, these could help you make claims when you file for worker compensation.
The critical steps listed above are quite important, provided you want to access your worker’s compensation claim after suffering a workplace injury.
