What To Do If You’ve Been Injured At Work
Several jobs, some more than others, face a considerable load of hazards at work. For example, we often hear about miners, carpenters, electrical engineers, and factory workers getting into accidents while doing their jobs. As a safeguard, employers are required to establish safety measures and offer medical and financial compensation in case their employees get hurt.
Workers’ compensation laws vary widely per state, but most states grant employees the right to file an injury claim. If you disagree with the way your employer handled your reports, you also have the right to be represented by a lawyer. If you’re from Victorville and you’ve been injured at work, you could use solid legal counsel from a Victorville workers’ compensation attorney.
Here are the steps you can take in addressing on-the-job injuries.
Report the accident
There should be existing paperwork to reflect that an accident happened to get your medical expenses covered. Reporting the accident should be the first thing you do because workers’ compensation laws often have short filing deadlines on reports. If you don’t file a report immediately, you could lose your legal rights once it goes past the statute of limitations.
Whether or not you were injured during the accident, file a report. You could still use it to convince your employer to implement more safety measures to prevent such accidents from happening again.
File a workers’ compensation claim
A workers’ compensation claim is not a lawsuit against your employer. Instead, its primary purpose is to request promised benefits offered by both the job description and employee rights. To do this, you must first notify your employer of your intent, and they should immediately supply you with all the required forms needed to file the claim. If not, you can contact your state’s Workers’ Compensation Office, fill out the “Employee” section, and ask your employer to fill out the “Employer” section.
Once done, the employer should forward the completed claim to the workers’ compensation insurance company. The insurance company will have 14 days to update you and your employer about your claim’s status.
If applicable, file third-party claims
Employees that encountered an on-the-job injury don’t have to prove the employer’s negligence because they can still be compensated even if the employee was negligent. However, the injury can sometimes be because of the negligence of a third party. For example, the equipment could be defective because of the manufacturing or because the delivery truck driver wasn’t cautious.
In this case, third-party claims may be filed, though these are not filed within the workers’ compensation system. They take the form of civil lawsuits and are instead filed in state and federal courts. These lawsuits can add personal injury damages that workers’ compensation claims don’t cover.
Keep your records
Stay on top of all missed days of work. Some state compensation laws allow the employee to receive weekly wage replacement systems if the injured employee is out of work for a week. In addition, all out-of-pocket medical expenses paid by the injured worker should also be recorded, including mileage for medically necessary travel.
Contact a workers’ compensation attorney
Depending on the complexity of your case, navigating the workers’ compensation process can be confusing. If you’re not familiar with how to protect yourself and your rights against insurance investigators, you need a workers’ compensation attorney by your side. They can assist you with filing a claim and in dealing with the insurance company. They will also monitor the claiming process to ensure you’re getting the appropriate amount needed to cover the medical expenses and the missed wages while you are out of work to recover.
While most states require employers to obtain workers’ compensation insurance to prevent their employees from suing them, you still have other options if you disagree with the final result of your claim. With the help of a workers’ compensation attorney, you can request an oral hearing from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs or submit a written request to the District Office that issued the decision to reconsider. This is only applicable if you’re a federal employee covered by the Federal Employees Compensation Act.
Takeaway
Even with safety measures in place, accidents can still happen in the workplace. This makes it imperative for all employees to be aware of their rights and their workers’ compensation laws. To ensure you’re appropriately compensated, the best thing to do is have a workers’ compensation attorney overseeing the whole process.
Authored by Angel Ulmido, Ant Digital Solutions Co.