Serious Injuries Need Serious Lawyers
Workplace Injuries
Injured at work?
If you are seriously injured on the job, your mindset quickly switches to survival mode. Questions will flood your brain. How will I feed my family if I am out of work? How will I pay for my medical treatment? Does my employer have workers’ compensation insurance?
If so, how do I file a claim? When will I receive a check? Can I choose my doctor in a workers’ comp case? Can I be fired while I am out injured? While workplace injuries are common, with over 29,000 being reported in South Carolina in 2020, the laws are complex, complicated and confusing. That is where Beach Injury Lawyers can help. Our experienced workers compensation attorneys will help answer your questions and offer a free consultation.
Workplace injuries are those that develop while you’re actively performing your duties. Whenever you are carrying out work-related duties for your company, even in remote and distant locations, you run the risk of getting hurt or ill.
Workplace accidents frequently result from unsafe working conditions, such as faulty machinery, the existence of dangerous substances, or exposure to a harmful workplace environment. Workplace accidents could also result from doing strenuous or repeated jobs, like lifting heavy objects for a business owner.
Occupational injuries can occur in any industry, but some vocations, like construction and development, have a larger risk of harm than others. Receiving appropriate legal representation is crucial since a workplace injury can be extremely damaging.
What Is Workers Compensation?
Workers’ compensation coverage, also known as “workers’ comp,” is something that every business with four or more full-time employees is mandated by law to get. Whenever a worker is harmed or becomes ill at work, it offers them financial and economic compensation.
The money received from a workers’ compensation claim can help pay for:
- Medical expenses, medication, or therapy
- Your monthly payments and costs of living
- A fraction of salaries lost
With the support of workers’ compensation attorneys, you might be able to file a lawsuit when you are hurt at work.
Examples of Prevalent Workplace Injuries
Workplace accidents can make it difficult for the sufferer to go about their daily lives, damage them severely or irreversibly, or affect their capacity to work in general. In the most extreme scenarios, severe workplace accidents could even result in fatalities. Some of the most typical job injuries are:
- Falls, slides, and trips
- Fractures or abrasions
- Equipment accidents
- Exhaustion
- Back problems
- Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
- Auto/transportation mishaps
- Electric shock
- Falling items
- Chemical toxicity
Remember that this is just a partial list. You are still eligible for a case even if the job injury you or a loved one had is not listed.
Different Workplace Injury Cases Types
There are numerous ways to become injured at work. Physical harm may occasionally have a proximate cause, such as tripping and falling or injuring your back when carrying items. However, in some cases, disease or injury brought on by hazardous working circumstances may progress gradually over time, such as cancer or mental illnesses. The fundamental categories of workplace accidents are listed beneath.
Workplace Mishaps/Accidents
No matter who was at fault for a work-related injury, employees may well be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. According to the regulations, companies and employers are obligated to pay injured workers’ compensation. After all, workplace accidents can make a worker miss duty or render them permanently disabled.
Medical costs and 66.67% of an employee’s wages, whenever they are incapable of working, are often covered by workers’ compensation.
Worker’s Compensation is the exclusive right to recovery against an employer. However, an injured worker may have a lawsuit against a third party for misconduct or negligence that caused their injuries
Chemical Exposure
Some workers may very well be confronted with hazardous and toxic substances at work that could be harmful to their health. However, it is the company’s duty to safeguard workers against dangerous substances and establish a secure workplace environment. Accidents and injuries from chemical exposure typically happen in locations that produce, mine, utilize, or keep hazardous materials. Despite this, leakage, paint, cleaning agents, or insufficient ventilation can cause occupational accidents and diseases from chemical exposure in a workspace.
An employee may be at risk of suffering from a range of diseases and injuries if they breathe, inhale, consume, or get into contact with particular toxic substances and pollutants. Some typical dangerous compounds are:
- Asbestos
- Lead
- Solvents and acids
- Mercury
Working people may suffer from some of the following typical chemical exposure diseases and injuries whenever subjected to such sorts of toxic components for extended periods:
- Cancers
- Burns
- Rashes
- Nerve damage
- Neurological conditions such as brain injury
What to Do in the Event of a Workplace Injury
You must follow particular procedures if you suffer a workplace injury to safeguard your constitutional protections and legal rights and obtain any compensation to which you may be entitled or eligible to receive.
Step 1: As soon as possible after the incident, submit an accident report. Several states have relatively short reporting deadlines. Even if you do not believe you were truly hurt, you should still file an accident report since it will safeguard you in case you were hurt or that injury got worse after the incident.
Step 2: File an injury report as soon as you can.
At the earliest evidence of damage or symptoms, you must notify your employer if you become hurt after the incident. To be able to later substantiate what you stated and when you mentioned it, make sure to alert them in writing. Trying to keep track of what occurred, who was present, and how you are feeling can be crucial to your case.
Step 3: Consult a doctor as soon as possible following a workplace injury. You must seek medical attention right away if the injury calls for it. Sometimes companies may even insist that you consult a doctor or hospital regardless of whether the injury appears not to be that significant to ensure you’re okay. Although you or your colleagues might not recognize what to look for in these situations, a physician should. Priority one is your safety.
Step 4: Speak with a personal injury lawyer.
You should speak with a lawyer before submitting a workers’ compensation claim, if at all possible. Work-related injury attorneys can help you determine the most appropriate legal line of action because they have experience with cases similar to yours.
How Do Claims for Workplace Injuries Operate?
Employees’ compensation insurance is often provided by an employer in the circumstances of work-related accidents. Usually, workers’ compensation insurance shields an employer from legal action. Nevertheless, several circumstances can call for suing the company or employer. An employee may typically sue their employer in the following situations:
- If an employer purposefully causes a worker’s injury. The harm needs to be the result of intentional behavior, not carelessness.
- If a company does not offer workers’ compensation or does not provide adequate insurance coverage; or
- If the working accident was caused by a party apart from one’s employer. An attorney for a workplace injury will attempt to demonstrate that the employer established a situation where an injury was likely to happen or that a third party was negligent.
What Rights Do You Have If You've Been Injured at Work?
Although laws vary from one state to another, every employee is entitled to certain fundamental rights. An employee is entitled to claim compensation for the harm and seek medical care if they become ill or injured at work. An employee has the right to go back to work with a physician’s permission without worrying about retaliation or being fired illegally. Employees often forfeit their ability to sue their employers when they accept workers’ compensation benefits and claims. Workers should consult a workers’ compensation attorney if their claim is rejected or deemed inadequate.
