Work Injury Lawyer

I’ve Been Injured at Work. What Should I Do?

Few things in life are as stressful as sustaining an injury at work. Whether you work a desk job or you’re out in a factory, chances are that you’re going to feel an immediate sense of panic when you are injured. However, it is crucial that you take a few important steps to protect your future.

First, you’ll need to report the injury to your employer immediately. Contact as many pertinent people as possible, letting them know right away that you have been injured. This way, no one can claim that you did not report the injury within a proper timeframe. Depending on where you’re working, any claims registered after 24 hours has elapsed may not even be valid, so it’s impossible to overstate the importance of quickly communicating that you have been hurt. Keep in mind that workplaces—and their attorneys—will often do anything they can to prove that you were not at work when you injured yourself. If you want to receive an opportunity to prove your case, you’ll need to start a paper trail right away.

What Are My Legal Rights?

Even if everyone has taken precautions to remove all possible hazards from an area, workplace injuries will sometimes happen. You shouldn’t feel guilty about looking out for yourself in the wake of an injury, whether it was directly the company’s fault or not. After informing the company of your injury, the next step should be to contact a work injury lawyer. They will help you with detailing the process of filing a workers’ compensation claim. The next step will be for you to see a doctor who will assess your condition and provide a thorough report of your injuries. This is crucial because the physician will let you know whether or not you may go back to work. If you are not able to go back to work, your work injury attorney will explain your disability compensation options to you.

What Are Third-Party Accidents?

In California, it has become more and more difficult for workers’ comp recipients to gain access to sufficient funds to sustain them after an injury. However, a work injury lawyer will often be able to examine a case and see if there are grounds for it to be considered a third-party accident. Let’s say you’re a machinist and one of the machines you regularly work with malfunctions, leaving you injured as a result. When a work injury attorney partners with you, they may choose to use legal means to pursue compensation from the company that manufactured the machine. As a result, you potentially could be eligible for loss of earnings and even pain and suffering compensation. The damages, of course, would depend heavily upon the type of injury it was, as well as how clear it was that the machine was to blame for the accident.

What Are the Statistics?

Some professions are more dangerous than others. Working on an oil rig, for example, is more likely to land you in the hospital than working in an office. However, fatal work injuries can occur anywhere. In 2017, 5,147 workers in the U.S. died as a result of injuries on the job. Nonfatal injuries are much more common. During that same year, 2.8 million workplace injuries were reported. These injuries were not severe in most cases. However, especially with the history of workers being injured on the job in the U.S., companies and government agencies believe that there should be openness and transparency when workers are hurt.

When Should I Hire an Attorney?

It’s not a bad idea to contact a work injury attorney whenever you’ve been hurt at work. They’ll let you know whether they think you have a case going forward, so it doesn’t hurt to speak to someone. Also, the vast majority of work injury attorneys will provide the first consultation for free, so you have absolutely nothing to lose. If you believe that your injury may prevent you from working for a long time, it is of the utmost importance that you speak to an attorney immediately. If you suspect that your rehabilitation period will be extensive, you will want to engage with a law office as quickly as possible. Any type of injury that may necessitate permanent disability is also an important reason to speak to a work injury lawyer right away. If you believe that your workplace may try to pin the injury on something that is not work-related, thus absolving themselves of responsibility, it is imperative that you get in touch with a lawyer very soon. In other words, if you are the only person out there advocating for your rights, it’s time to build a team so that you are equipped for whatever happens to come your way.

Contact Rizio Lipinsky Heiting today for your free consultation.