If you have suffered an injury at your place of work there will be so many things happening all at the same time, such as assessing the extent of your injuries and carrying out an investigation into how the accident happened.
It can be difficult to focus on all the important points and actions that you need to cover at a time like this, which means that you could end up not getting the incident resolved satisfactorily if you don’t ask the right questions and follow the correct procedures.
Here is a look at why it can pay to get some professional help when you have suffered a workplace injury.
Reporting the incident
Your primary focus will always be to ensure that your injuries are properly assessed and you get the treatment you need, once that is taken care of you can then look at the next step of reporting the incident in the correct way.
Following the correct workplace reporting procedures can often prove critical to the success of any subsequent claim for compensation.
If there were no witnesses you will need to ensure colleagues are immediately notified. This is because if there are an investigation and a claim for compensation, your employer and any insurer acting on their behalf, will not find it that easy to dispute your claim.
This is often an appropriate time to get legal advice from a professional as you can’t be expected to know how to handle all the potential scenarios that can follow a workplace accident.
Getting a better outcome
Although you don’t actually need a lawyer in order to claim compensation for a workplace injury it might prove harder to win the cash or get as much of a payout as you are entitled to.
Employment law and workers rights acts contain many different interpretations and terms of legislation, which any of us who have not studied law can’t be expected to use to our advantage in order to achieve success with your compensation claim.
Using a lawyer can help improve your chances of getting exactly what you are due by reviewing whether your employer was negligent and if they did not provide adequate protection from injury.
Medical care
Some employers might offer you access to the best medical attention that you can get and others will attempt to do the bare minimum so that they can keep costs down.
Another reason for using a lawyer is that they should be able to give you professional help in getting you access to all the medical attention and facilities that you are entitled to in the circumstances. There are workers comp doctors that are experienced in treating work-related injuries specifically, ensuring you get the help you need and that your medical records are accurate for your claim.
Denying your claim
It can also be the case that your employer resists your claim for compensation and tries to delay the process so that you don’t get treatment and payments when you should.
A lawyer will be in a position to evaluate your claim and give you a professional opinion as to whether your claim is valid and then work on your behalf to get your employer to meet their obligations.
Suffering an injury in the workplace can be distressing, and that distress could be compounded if you don’t get the compensation you are due, which is a good reason why you might need a lawyer in these circumstances.
