Despite the efforts of OSHA and other safety organizations, workplace injuries happen every day. In fact, in Florida, over 100,000 people were injured while at work in 2015. Workplace injuries can be severe, which is why understanding what to do after suffering a workplace injury is crucial. In this blog, our Tampa personal injury lawyer will cover the five steps you should take after a workplace injury.
1. Seek Medical Attention Right Away
Whether you feel from a ladder or you bumped your head hard on a shelf while stocking, you should always seek medical attention as soon as possible after your injury. Often people don’t realize the extent of their injury until days later and the longer you wait to receive treatment, the more opportunity the insurance company has to deny your claim. For more information on correctly seeking medical attention, check out our blog on How to Choose the Right Doctor For Your Injury.
2. Report Your Injury
You should report a workplace injury to your employer as soon as possible. Injury reports should be made through your supervisor, HR manager, or another manager right away. In Florida, you employer has seven days from the time you reported your injury to report it to their insurance company. Their insurance company is legally obligated to provide you with an insurance brochure within 3 days receiving notification of your injury.
3. Document Everything
If you wish to receive adequate compensation for your injuries, we suggest meticulously documenting your injuries to the best of your abilities. Take photos of your injury as it heals; make notes of all the activities you were unable to do while healing from your injury. Keep track of the gas and upfront costs you paid for medical treatment.
4. Contact a Tampa personal injury attorney
While the workers’ compensation laws in Florida are designed to protect employees and not employers, often, insurance companies act in what’s in their best interest and not in the best interest of the employee. Many injured employees who don’t retain an attorney after their injuries receive substantially less in their workers’ compensation settlements. A skilled workers’ compensation attorney can fight on your behalf to ensure you are awarded the maximum compensation for your injuries. Learn more about hiring personal injury attorney in our blog about why you should not wait to hire an attorney.
5. Stay Off Social Media
In our experience, one of the quickest ways to jeopardize your personal injury case is to post about it online. While we certainly don’t suggest you delete your social presence online, we do suggest you seriously think about everything you post before you post it. Were you injured at work and as a result are you unable to stand for long periods of time? Perhaps think twice before updating with a photo of you and your family at Disney World. Do you often check in at the gym? During your injury case, you might want to refrain from checking in to different locations as there have been previous cases where compensation has been denied due to check-ins at the gym.
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