When you suffer an injury while you are at work, you may be worried and scared about the situation and how it will impact your life. It is important to know about the steps that you should take when you have suffered a workplace injury. Then, you can be sure that you are covering all of your bases and doing everything you can to protect yourself as you recover from your injuries.
Report the Incident to Your Superiors Immediately
It is likely going to be your first instinct to try to cover up or hide the accident or incident after it has occurred. While your embarrassment is an understandable reaction, you should not let it prevent you from taking the step of reporting the incident to your superiors as soon as possible.
As soon as you are safe to do so, tell your supervisor or manager what happened. Be sure to provide as much information about how the accident happened as possible, and do not try to downplay your injuries. The company you work for needs to know what happened so they can file their reports and let their insurance company know about the incident right away.
Do Not Refuse Medical Care
Once your supervisor has been informed of the incident, the first thing he or she should do is request that you get medical care. Depending on the severity of your injury, this may mean that emergency medical services need to be involved. If you do not require an ambulance, it may mean an immediate trip to an urgent care clinic.
Whatever you do in this situation, do not refuse the medical care that is offered to you. If you do and it turns out your injury is severe enough to require medical care later on, you might not get the financial compensation from your employer's insurance company that you would receive otherwise. They may assume that the injury occurred outside of the workplace instead of from the incident at work.
Keep Records of All the Care You Received
Accident and personal injury cases and negotiations can go on for a long time, especially if your injuries require continual care over several weeks or months. As such, you will want to be sure that you keep close records of all medical care you received, from the day of your accident to the last day of treatment for your injuries. Medical care includes physiotherapy for work injuries, occupational therapy, and even mental health therapy if you need it because of the injuries you suffered at work.
Keep all of this information and make sure your attorney has the records as well. Then, you can be sure that you receive financial compensation for all of the care costs associated with your injury.
Now that you know some of the steps to take when you have been injured on the job, you will also know how to handle the situation if and when it happens to you. For more information about medical care for work injuries, talk with a physiotherapy clinic, like Pain Stop MD.
After I was involved in a car accident, I knew that I couldn't go on doing my normal routine. I could barely walk, much less work, which is why I started to panic when the medical bills started rolling in. I began thinking about what I could do to make things right, and I realized that I really needed to work with a lawyer. I began talking with my lawyer about getting the compensation I needed, and he was instrumental in helping me to heal emotionally and financially. Check out this blog for great tips on working with an accident and injury attorney.