Work Injury Claims: Tips and Guidelines

It is the duty of the all employers to ascertain that their workplace is safe in all respects and that their employees are provided with enough safety equipment to protect them from any untoward injuries. However, in case an employee suffers a personal injury at work, then he has the right to file a workplace accident claim as compensation for the pain, suffering and financial loss resulting from the injury.

Work injury claims are not very difficult to file and obtain if the employer does not create any problems in paying the compensation. However, in case of severe injuries that call for huge compensations, employers often resort to immoral and illegal means in order to save money. In addition, even if the injuries are minor, the employers tend to underplay the incident and give less compensation than obligatory to the employees.

Therefore, it is important that one treads with caution while dealing with an accident at work claim. 

1) Ensure that the injury is reported to your employer and is accounted in the accident book right after it occurs. If you fail to do so, then your claim might be completely denied.

2) If your employer has a workplace doctor, then you must follow his or her advice. Failing to do so might give an opportunity to your employer to deny your claim, asserting that your injuries deteriorated since you did not follow the company protocol.

3) There is a stipulated time period in which one can file a work injury claim. This period differs from state to state but it generally is long enough to give the employee ample time to file. However, it is recommended that you file your claim as soon as possible so that the incident does not become old and so that you do not forget important facts related to the workplace accident.

4) Keep a record of everything: your medical bills, the names and addresses of doctors you visited, various prescriptions, the symptoms of your injury, etc. Remember to record every fact in detail. Failing to do this might cause problems in the process of obtaining the injury claim.

5) You are likely to get more compensation in case your injury occurred due to a glaring big mistake of the employer. However, in case the injury occurred partly due to your fault, then you would be entitled to a comparatively smaller compensation. In some countries, often the fault factor is not even taken into consideration as long as the injury took place inside the workplace and the claimant was not injured while breaking a law or while in an inebriated condition. Laws regarding this differ from state to state. Therefore, you are advised to refer to the exact laws of your state before filing a claim.

6) If your case gets complicated or if you find yourself unable to carry out all the claim-related work on your own, it is heavily advisable that you get a personal injury attorney to help you. Not only would a professional lawyer help you to get the compensation that you deserve, he or she would also take care of all the paperwork and sort out all complications. If you are worried about the fee of the lawyer, then you can hire the services of a no win no fee personal injury attorney, whom you would not have to pay anything in case you do not get any claim.

All these are general guidelines related to work injury claims. As stated above, the laws differ from state to state, so it is important that you are well versed with the laws particular to your state while dealing with your personal injury claim case.