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Employees in every state are entitled to reasonable safety at their workplace and a healthy working environment. In some cases, employers fail to provide a favorable working condition subjecting the employees to getting injured. However, despite the efforts to ensure that employees’ safety is upheld, accidents still occur in workplaces rendering some employees injured. These injuries may include broken bones, occupational illness, and even psychological damages. Every state has a distinct type of system that outlines the procedure and action the employees should take for work-related injuries. At workplaces, workers often worry about what to do if I get injured at work?
Types of Workplace Injuries
It’s of great importance to be aware of the workplace injuries subjected at your workplace and their causes to avoid and be cautious when carrying out your duties to avoid being a victim of the damages. Most of them cause adverse effects or permanent disorders in our bodies, limiting us from carrying other responsibilities. Other injuries may even result in death. According to the latest research carried out by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the past years, more than three million workplace injuries and illnesses have been reported. There are common causes of work injuries, and they include;
- Falls are the common occupational hazards for workers in the construction industry. Most of the falls result in broken bones, spinal cord complications, and dislocation, traumatic brain injuries, and may even result in death when the injuries are fatal. These injuries may be due to machine defectiveness, carelessness of the workers, or lack of handling techniques of some machinery.
- Repetitive motion injuries are caused by performing the same duty repeatedly for a long time, resulting in bursitis and tendonitis. These are the chronic work injuries commonly reported.
- According to the research, most of the workers have been reported to experience slip and falls. The injuries resulting from slip and falls may result in broken bones and other related musculoskeletal injuries. Hiring a slip and fall lawyer will help you in case an accident occurs.
- Motor vehicle accidents are other causes of injuries in the workplace. It happens when the employees are engaged in work-related businesses that may involve traveling. The accidents often cause broken bones and may even result in death.
What to Do if I Get Injured in the workplace
Workplace injuries can occur at any moment, and it’s always wise to know how to claim compensation, especially with the help of a worker’s compensation lawyer. There is a procedure that a worker should follow when injuries at the workplace.
1. Report Your Injury
What to do if I get injured at work? It’s always advisable and of great importance for the employees to report the injuries to their immediate supervisor or their employer as soon as possible. If the damage needs primary urgent care, the employer should relieve you from work to get medical attendance. In most cases, the employers and workers’ insurance companies try to deny the claims if the employee didn’t officially report the injury.
2. Inform the Health care provider that the injury is work-related
Whenever you seek Medicare, it’s prudent to inform the doctor that the injury occurred at your workplace. The doctor should also carry out MRI scans in case of fractures, especially for knee pain treatment MRI scans help identify what the employee should keep treatment best suits and the MRI photographs as evidence of the extreme of the injury. You should also make sure that the doctor records your medical notes as at your first visit. In most cases, the local medicare insurance agent may deny the claims if the first medical records do not notify that the injury was work-related.
3. Present a written notice to your employer
As a worker, I should not worry about what to do if I get injured at work. The written form should entail the details of the injury. It should involve the date the injury occurred and a short description of the damage. The paper should be provided within a short period to the workplace, and make sure you remain with a copy of the statement for your records. If your employee doesn’t provide you with form 18, which is the form that implies the agreement of employee and employer on injury compensation, you should have a personal injury attorney.
Benefits You Are Entitled to After Workplace Injury
What to do if I get injured at work? After any workplace injury incident, the worker’s compensation covers all medical expenses incurred during the diagnosis and the treatment of the employee’s workplace injury, including the doctor’s appointments attended, surgeries, and medical equipment needed to treat the injury. Employees’ compensation benefits compensate the workers for the lost wages while off duty due to the injury. There are different types of disability benefits that a worker receives after a workplace injury. They include;
- Temporary Total Disability
The worker is entitled to receive temporary total disability benefits while off duty but for a limited period. The benefit amount is approximately two-thirds of an employee’s weekly wage.
- Temporary Partial Disability
Temporary partial disability allowances are provided to workers who are injured in the workplace but can engage in light work until they can resume work at the same level of work.
- Permanent Total Disability
Workers receive permanent total disability if the employee is permanently and disabled for and unable ever to resume their duties. The employee might also be eligible for social security disability payments.
- Permanent Partial Disability
Workers benefit if they have lost complete or partial body part that partially impacts their ability to work. Permanent partial disability benefits could compensate workers if the injury caused underperformance of a body organ.
- Death Benefits
The benefit is entitled to the bereaved family upon the employee’s death due to injury on the job. The employer compensates the family according to the agreement with the employee and the insurance company terms. The compensation is purposely for the financial support for the family.
Legal Rights Entitled to the Employee after Injury at Workplace
As much as the employee is compensated, the compensation does not cover personal injuries that the injured worker is entitled to. In certain circumstances, workers injured at the workplace have to file lawsuits in law courts to recover additional damages that are not covered in the compensation. It’s always helpful for the workers to be aware of their rights and understand the procedures.
- What to do if I get injured at work? In most states, if the employer clearly directly caused the injury or injury, the employee can claim damages in court. The injury could be through employer sexual exploitation of the workers and forceful execution of supervision.
- What to do if I get injured at work? Employees have the right to file a lawsuit against the employer if the employer fails to fulfill the worker’s compensation insurance as agreed by the two parties. You must have solid prove the employer was unable to compensate you on the job injury compensation.
- What to do if I get injured at work? The employee has the right to sue the manufacturer if the job injury resulted due to the defectiveness of a machine or any other working equipment during work. The manufactures are liable for the damages and losses incurred as a result of the workplace injury.
- What to do if I get injured at work? The worker has the right to file a lawsuit if the workplace injury resulted from unfavorable working conditions. The damage might be due to leakage of toxic substances, which could lead the worker to suffer from a cumulative of long-term illnesses such as lung cancer and brain damage. The employees can file a toxic tort against the employer and the manufacturer of the poisonous substances.
- What to do if I get injured at work? The employee has the right to file a lawsuit if a third party was involved in the job injury. The worker has the right to sue the person and get the proper compensation for the damage.
What If My Employer Does Not Have Workers’ Compensation Insurance?
The only employees excepted for having a workers’ compensation insurance are agricultural employees and domestic employees; employers are required by the law to have workers’ compensation insurance. What to do if I get injured at my job? If your employer claims they don’t have the workers’ compensation insurance, you should contact an attorney or contact your state’s labor office as soon as possible. If your employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance in case of a job injury, your state is likely to fund out of which they will pay for the workers’ compensation insurance. As an employee, you must sue the employee if the employer for negligence if the employer has the responsibility of paying for the workers’ compensation insurance and does not do so.
In Which Situation Do I Require a Lawyer?
What to do if I get injured at work? The need for a lawyer depends on the complexity of your case. It’s always advisable to contact lawyers if you less understand your issue. It is prudent to get a compensation lawyer. If you have to stand before a court of law, you should hire a lawyer to present you during your case.
How Do I File a Workers’ Compensation Claim?
Filling a workers’ compensation claim is similar to filing an insurance claim. The main aim of filing the lawsuit is to request benefits. The first step of filling a workers’ compensation claim is notifying you’re your employer. They must offer you a claim form to fill. When you complete filling the claim form, make sure you sign and date the claim form for validity and keep a copy a copy of your claim form for records. Return the claim form to the employer for the employer to fill the employer section. You should ask for a copy of the employer’s document just if you don’t get one to keep records. The insurance company has approximately fourteen days to process your claim and contact you about the status of your claim.
Despite all the procedures on what to do when injured on the job, there are common mistakes many employees and employers. The mistakes include;
- Waiting for A Long Time to Report About the Workplace Injury
What to do if I get injured at my job and the injury has healed? Waiting too much time may lead to the injury condition worsening, and actions to be taken would lead to permanent disability or lower your ability to perform duties. Despite the compensation fee when the injury isn’t reported in time, most insurance companies deny the claims and render them invalid since the condition needs more attention and a large medical bill for recovery.
- Omitting Previous Injuries from Your Current Claim
It’s always good as an employee or roofing contractor to show your uttermost honest when filing your claims. It’s very prudent to include your past workplace injuries in your claim to get total worker compensation. It’s always a good idea to visit your doctor and attach all your previous medical records to prove the last job injuries.
- Partially Reporting the Injury
For instance, where the injury affected two parts of your body, be ready to report both cases. For example, if you slipped and fell and you hurt both your back and your ankle, be able to report both because if you say your ankle and ignore to inform about your back injury. Your back condition worsens, and you decide to report later the claim is misconstrued as fraud, and the claim cannot be compensated. Report all the injuries to your doctors as job injuries to be officially documented since the health records are used as a reference for compensation.
- Failing to Report to Work Duties After Recovery from The Workplace Injury
What to do if I get injured at work and I return back to my job? Even if your employer offers to give you a different position after recovery other than your previous position to accommodate your long-term injuries, you have to report to your duties. Failing to take it up signifies that you are giving up on your income, and the employer may opt to terminate your contract for refusing to work.
Many workers never have knowledge of what to do if they get injured at work. There are various actions on what to do when you get injured on the job. Every step taken should be law-abiding and agreed upon by both the employer and the employee. Any action taken starting with treatment up to compensation should be under the knowledge and cooperation of both the employer and the employee to avoid misunderstanding or any fraud in the process. To make sure the procedure is friendly, the employer and the employee should agree. If they come into consent, they should only carry out the workers’ compensation insurance rather than fill out a lawsuit involving hiring workers comp lawyers to represent them in the case, which is costly.
