What to Do If You Suffer From an Injury at Work?

If you’ve been injured at work, whether it is an office, construction site, or any other location where you’re working on behalf of your company, then there are a few steps that you must follow immediately. Let’s take a look at some of them!

Seek Immediate Medical Attention

The first thing that you need to do when you get injured, of course, is to seek medical attention. At the same time, get photos before treatment to document the injury. In fact, document anything and everything before and after the injury.  

Inform Your Supervisor

At the time of injury, depending on its severity, you -- or someone on your behalf -- should immediately notify your supervisor. The sooner you do it, the better it is. Again, document everything. So if initially he/she is notified via phone, follow it up with a text or email so there is a tangible record of what details your provided the supervisor with, and when you did it. 

File For Workers’ Compensation Claim

It is absolutely important to be aware of all the rights that you are entitled to if you have been injured in a work-related accident. So, first thing, contact workers’ compensation lawyer before you rush to file a claim.  Compensation is a specialized area of the law, so hire a specialist. They work on contingency, so you won’t need to spend any money to hire them. 

Rely On a Skilled Attorney

When it comes to filing for workers’ compensation claims, rely on a skilled and experienced workers’ compensation lawyer with a track record of winning cases. With a winning record it immediately tells you that they’re experienced enough to recognizable what is winnable and what is not. Find a firm with a winning record, willing to talk to you and not “at’ you, willing to explain the legal steps your case will follow, as well as their company process for communication and updates with you. 

3 Tips on Hiring a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Getting compensated after suffering from an injury at your workplace will likely require you to file a workers’ compensation claim. However, it isn’t as easy as it may seem, and many companies, including city employers many times will try to sidestep their responsibility. Workers’ compensation law is complex, so it is important to well represent by an attorney who specializes in workplace injury.  

Get recommendations –

Contact your relatives, friends, and colleagues to get some recommendations of a good workers' compensation attorney. If you can find an attorney that someone you trust recommends, it makes your task easier. 

Do a bit of research –

If you had no luck in finding a good referral from friends and family, then you’ll need to do your own research and find a workers' compensation lawyer on your own. You can search (Google, yahoo, AOL and others) on the Internet and quickly build a list. But also check law directories, like superlawyers.com or injuredworkersbar.org

There are many firms that provide legal assistance in filing a workers' compensation claim, but you want to find a law firm that ‘specializes’ in Workers’ Compensation. Most of the leading firms work on contingency, meaning that if they don’t win your case, it costs you nothing. 

Once you have your shortlist, cross check it with Better Business Bureau and consumer complaint boards to see if there are complaints about them and if there are, were they resolved, how quickly, and was it satisfactory to both parties? Remember that anyone can list a complaint, which doesn’t automatically mean the law firm should be written off.

Ask for references –

When you’ve shortlisted a few attorneys you have to meet with them, face to face. This is an interview pure and simple. They will be assessing the strength of your case, and you need to assess whether you want them to represent you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. What percentage of their legal workload is injury-related cases? What is their win-loss percentage with injury cases? Do they have previous clients they can provide as references? What is their process -- ask them to walk you through it; then assess how competent you feel they are.