Being injured at work can be a traumatic experience that leaves you both mentally shaken and potentially unable to continue in your job for the foreseeable future. As a result, one isolated incident can turn your entire life upside down.
What makes an injury at work so challenging to deal with is the shock of it even happening in the first place. As humans, we crave routine and avoid the unexpected, so when a sudden accident happens out of the blue, it shocks our nervous system and we feel completely adrift of normality for a while.
This is especially true when the injury happens at work because it is likely the place where you are going through the motions, operating out of habit and used to a familiar experience day after day. Therefore, when you suddenly feel unsafe at work, it can truly unsettle you.
Of course, because injuring yourself at work is so rare, you may be unsure about what to do in the immediate aftermath. Thankfully, this guide is here to help you every step of the way:
Make sure you have a strong lawyer in your corner
One of the most crucial aspects you need to consider after you injure yourself at work is the legal consequences. While you might chalk the incident up as being a silly mistake, it may not have been. In fact, because the whole incident happened so fast, you may not have noticed the cause of your injury – which may not have been your fault.
In fact, you may be liable to a payout, or even need to mount a lawsuit against the guilty party. At the very least, you may need to defend your rights to take paid leave due to injury, so having California Personal Injury Attorneys in your corner is vital.
They will be able to go over your case bit by bit to see if there is something your workplace can pay you for. It may turn out that you will need physical therapy, or you have to see a chiropractor (you can find one by searching “chiropractor near me” online), to help you with your recovery. Whatever you need, your lawyer can help you with the process.
Find the cause of the accident
Ultimately, you need to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible. There are two main reasons for this.
The first is that you need to ascertain whether the incident was your fault or whether a third party is responsible. For example, if the floor was unnecessarily slippery without warning, or necessary safety equipment was not available, then you need to find out why. This will help you to bring the guilty party to justice and ensure you can claim any damages you may be entitled to.
The second reason is that you want to prevent the incident from happening again. There may be a fundamental safety issue in your workplace that needs sorting to prevent one of your colleagues from suffering the same injury.
Don’t point fingers until you have concrete evidence
Finally, you need to make sure you have concrete evidence before you start accusing anyone of causing the incident. While it is only natural to feel emotional and angry after you have been injured at work, you cannot accuse your employer or a colleague of wrongdoing without solid evidence. Without it, not only will you fail to prove anything, but you may alienate yourself from your employers or even find yourself facing the sack.