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Every employer has a responsibility toward their employees to ensure that they offer a safe working environment. If their practices fall below what is required of them it could have the unfortunate consequence of you being injured at work. Should you sustain an injury in the workplace it could have far-reaching repercussions not only the pain and suffering you experience but it could affect your income and lifestyle to which you are used to. If you have suffered an injury at work here are some things you should do to protect yourself.
Treat your injury
By far the most important thing you should do in the immediate aftermath of an injury is to treat your injury. Where necessary your injury should be checked over by a trained on-site first aider, emergency responders called or if you are able, have your injury checked over by a medical professional. These steps should be followed even where an injury appears minor. You do not know what unforeseen or potential long-term damage has been caused by your injury so having yourself checked over is paramount.
Report the accident
If you were working alone at the time of your accident (or even if you weren’t) you should make your colleagues and manager aware of the incident. This is particularly important if you later decide to pursue a claim for compensation or there is an investigation into the accident. By notifying the appropriate personnel of the accident it should prevent there being any disputes regarding the occurrence of the accident from either your employers or insurers. Whether you plan to make a claim for compensation or not you should always alert members of staff and management regarding any accident to avoid it happening again.
Where you are able, take photos
Photos can serve a multitude of different purposes. Firstly if you want to make a claim for compensation they may help to substantiate your claim. Further than this, they may be useful to your employers or insurers when investigating the accident and when looking to implement new procedures or protocols to avoid this happening again. If you are taking photos then try to take photos of the location, the circumstances, and any other relevant artifacts that may be present at the time.
Keep a record of symptoms/injuries
If your injuries are ongoing then be sure to keep a note of all of the symptoms you experience as a result. As time passes it is easy to forget everything that happened in the aftermath of an accident and how arduous (or not) the recovery process may have been. What is more not every symptom or complication may have been recorded by medical professionals so it is important you keep a note of everything that changed in your life as a result of the accident.
It is equally important that you make regular visits to your physician where required. Your doctor will note down all of the complications and symptoms you report and have suffered as a result of the accident. Of course, the obvious benefit to this is having your symptoms treated but it will also help corroborate and compensation claim you may later make.
Seek legal advice
Sometimes accidents are just accidents and there is no fault to be found for an injury sustained. That said if you believe there to have been a fault on the part of your employer, which led to your injury then you may be entitled to recover compensation for the losses you incurred. These losses will include a financial settlement for the injury, pain, and suffering caused and will also seek to cover you for any financial losses that occurred as a result of your injury. By way of example, this could be medical expenses or loss of pay. A personal injury attorney will be able to advise you on the merits of your claim and whether they consider you to have a viable case to seek compensation. What is more, even if your case does not result in the outcome you had first anticipated or believe you were entitled to you may be able to undertake legal advice from a state or federal appellate attorney as to whether you can appeal the decision made. Pursuing a claim for personal injury can be a long and complicated process and while it may be tempting to go it alone it could result in you not achieving the level of compensation you are entitled to. What is more, many attorneys will work on a ‘no win no fee’ basis so it is unlikely to cost you anything until the settlement has been agreed upon.