What Should You Do If You Were Injured At Work

Injuries happen in the workplace all over the world on a daily basis, and they’re often caused by improper workplace practices. Employers cutting corners, health and safety are not being taken seriously, or employees are not being properly trained for their position. In any case, you shouldn’t have to worry about your safety while you’re working, but if you’re ever injured – you should know what to do. Being prepared will help you to recover faster, and see that you get any form of compensation that you’re owed.

Report the accident

Following the accident, you should make sure you’re not handling it alone, and you want to be sure that more people know what happened. Not only are you obligated to report said accident to your manager or employer, but you should let your colleagues know too. Your employer is legally required to report the accident, and letting your colleagues know what happened can help them to avoid falling victim to the same issue.

Reporting the accident will also help to ensure that if there was a problem, or poor health and safety practices, they can be corrected. 

Take photos

Having photograph evidence of everything that happened is going to be very useful if you have to prove your injury. Not all employers are going to be cooperative, or honourable when handling the injury case, and if you need evidence of what happened – a photograph is as good as it gets. You want to photograph both your injury, as well as any equipment or hazards that led to your injury. If you were majorly injured following the accident, it might be a good idea to have one of your colleagues collect the photo evidence instead. 

Contact a lawyer

You might have to seek legal representation to get the compensation you’re owed, and workplace injury lawyers exist for that reason. Your employer might not offer you an adequate amount of compensation, or you may have trouble proving what happened – which is where proper legal representation is important. Your lawyer can provide you with proper guidance on how to handle the situation, and you stand a much better chance of being paid proper compensation.

See a doctor

Whether or not your workplace injury seems to be serious or minor, you should always check in with a healthcare professional. Even if you feel completely fine, having a record of the incident on your medical record will be helpful when it comes to providing what happened.

You should know that not all injuries are going to show themselves straight away, and even major injuries can surface some time after the incident. Head trauma may not be obvious to you immediately, and being properly assessed by your doctor can help to make sure you don’t head back to work with a serious condition. The sooner you get yourself checked, the sooner you can be on the road to recovery. Your doctor may also be able to help you get paid time off, which you will need if you’re going to properly recover.