What You Should Do If Injured on the Job: Your Rights

When You Are Injured on the Job

Your injury may be severe enough that you must go to the hospital at once by ambulance. You may not remember much while you are trying to deal with pain and fear about what has happened to you. Once you get to the hospital and are taken care, including getting some rest, you will need to think back on the event about what happened.

Write Down Everything You Remember

Write down the date and time when you were injured, what was happening around you and why you were injured. Then go through the following list to help jog your memory.

• Did a piece of equipment fail, break down, catch fire, or did another worker make a wrong move that led to your injury?
• Do you remember who saw your accident? They can help you later by giving statements if there is a problem with your claim.
• Did other workers help you over to a place where you could be looked at? Who were they?
• Are there CCTV cameras in the area where you were working when you had the accident? Many businesses do have them, and the employees do not know they are there. Those videos may be needed for your case.
• What did workers say to you at the time the accident happened? What did the doctors and nurses say to you when transported to the hospital?

Even little things can be very important when you think back on the time when the accident happened. Be patient with yourself as you recover from your ordeal. What you may not remember right now, may come back to you in a day or so. This is a tough time for injured workers when they are trying to stabilize pain and worry, but there is help available to you when you need it.

Contact a Worker’s Compensation Lawyer

If you think that machinery was not properly maintained in a satisfactory and safe way, it may help you to connect with a worker’s compensation lawyer. It can be an informal meeting to tell everything you remember about the accident now, in case there is a problem with the employer.

There are occasions when an employer may claim that the accident was due to your negligence and mishandling of the equipment. Yet, you are sure you did everything right and that it was not your fault. So, it is important to get all the facts down on a piece of paper, as a starting point in helping yourself through to recovery.

While a worker’s compensation attorney is essential in getting your claim to benefits started, you may also need another type of attorney too if things go wrong between you and your employer, and there is a case of criminal negligence in the workplace. Your employer may blame you but if you have enough facts to back you up, you can make your case and succeed, with legal help.

Call us at once if you have been injured at work and foresee a problem ahead with your employer. We are here to help! 602-346-9009