Individuals often come across employers that care little about the safety of their employees and hence do not pay attention to creating a safe work environment for them. Some of the most common occurrences of unsafe work environments occur in manufacturing plants, chemical industries, and mining. If you too are an employee with an irresponsible employer and have suffered an injury at work, it may be time for you to hire a work site accident attorney.
Similar to how a personal injury lawyer fights for attaining a claim in the case of an individual suffering a personal injury with no fault, a worker’s compensation lawyer would fight for a claim against your employer and their insurance company to make up for the mental and physical damage you suffered due to a work accident.
If you work in a place prone to accidents, given below are four things you must do immediately after suffering an accident at work:
Immediately report to supervisor
The very first thing you should do when you suffer an injury at work is to immediately report the injury to your supervisor. While you may be able to do so verbally, it is encouraged that you do so in writing if possible. Most states in the United States of America have a deadline for reporting an incident and hence the sooner you do so, the better.
Seek medical attention
The very next thing you do after informing your supervisor is seeking medical attention. Under FECA or Federal Employees Compensation Act, you can choose any qualified doctor for your treatment depending upon your injury. However, if you aren’t a federal employee, state law may apply to you under which your employer will pay for your treatment through an approved medical facility for at least 30 days after which you can seek your doctor.
Know if you are eligible for a claim
In certain cases of accidents at work, the employee might not be eligible for a claim at all. This can only happen when the employee was intoxicated or had consumed drugs or alcohol when the injury occurred. If you were indeed intoxicated during the injury, the laws surrounding workers’ compensation should not apply to you. Any injuries incurred while either traveling to or from work are not covered by workers’ compensation law.
File a claim
The next step would be to file a worker’s compensation claim. Rather than this being a lawsuit, it is simply a request for your employer to release funds for the physical and mental damage you may have incurred during your injury. Once your employer received the claim, they can fill in their respective section and forward the claim to the insurance department. If at any step during this process you feel cheated or confused, you are free to consult a lawyer.
Conclusion
Being involved in an accident at work is already stressful as it is, and you wouldn’t want any other trouble coming your way. By following the above-mentioned steps, you can ensure a sound compensation claim and your road to recovery.
