It’s an unfortunate reality that many people get hurt at work. Even when you’re doing all the right things, accidents happen. If you suspect you’ve been injured in a workplace accident, there are steps to take immediately to limit your losses. Here are the top 6 things you need to do when injured at work.
1. Hire a personal injury lawyer immediately
Don’t waste an instant in contacting a personal injury lawyer. Let your attorney begin work, evaluating the incident and gathering evidence to support your case. Even though you might feel fine after the accident, it is important to get started right away so that you don’t lose any evidence that could help with your claim. If you live in Florida, you can hire Florida personal injury lawyers that can help you with your case. It is better to hire a lawyer as early as possible so that they can start working on your case.
It’s crucial to tell your doctor about what happened and let them know if there are any lasting health problems related to the event. By alerting doctors and nurses of what happened, they might be able to treat you better or provide more accurate information for workers’ compensation claims down the line. You can also take steps like photographing bruises and submitting them to your doctor, which might come in handy if you need them as evidence later on. The more documentation you can provide about what happened, the better your chances are of getting the compensation you deserve.
3. Don’t assume workers’ compensation will take care of everything
If you don’t know much about Florida workers’ compensation laws, it’s important to find out who is liable for your injuries and how much money you can get before accepting any offers from insurance companies. If the accident was particularly serious and there were either multiple people involved, or a hazardous material involved, things could get complicated and require additional evidence that only lawyers specialized in personal injury law possess. Also remember that Florida law does not put a limit on how much workers’ compensation pays an injured worker, so the more serious the injuries are, the bigger your settlement could be.
4. Keep all records, medical and otherwise
It can be difficult to figure out how much money you deserve for your injuries. When you first begin exploring your legal options, try not to worry too much about how your claim will be evaluated or sorted out. Let the professionals handle it while you focus on recovering from your injuries. If you have any records that document what has happened since the accident, keep them. Medical records, photographs, videos, and eyewitness accounts are all valuable pieces of information for a personal injury lawyer trying to build your case.
5. Don’t give away any evidence
Once you’ve gathered all the important documents related to your accident, it’s important not to let anyone else take them away or tamper with them in any way. You want these items protected and stored somewhere safe where no one can touch or remove them until they are needed. If evidence gets misplaced or destroyed due to mishandling, it could be too late for you to get compensated fairly based on that information alone.
6. Discuss a compensation
The amount of money that you will receive for your injuries is ultimately up to the insurance company, but it’s unlikely that they will choose to offer you what you are worth. Instead of waiting around for an insurance company to make an offer, discuss a compensation figure with your attorney based on all the information they have collected about your case. This way, if the insurance companies refuse to pay out after negotiations, you can take them to court and let a judge decide how much money you deserve for your injuries.
Why should you get a personal injury lawyer?
Hiring a personal injury attorney for your case is crucial if you want to receive adequate compensation. Insurance companies are run by trained negotiators who will attempt to give you as little money as possible, reasoning that they save more overall if no one challenges them. This means that most people never get the full amount of money they deserve for their injuries. A skilled personal injury lawyer is on your side and will help ensure that you get what you need so that you can focus on recovering from your injuries instead of worrying about getting the proper settlement.
Most of us go to work every day without a second thought about the safety precautions in place, but accidents at work happen. If this happens to you, it’s important that you know you have possibilities and that you can at least ease your recovery process.
