What To Do If You Are Injured At Work

Section 3. What To Do If You Are Injured At Work

Work Accident:

If you are hurt in an accident at work, you need to do three things:

1. If you are injured in a accident or something happens that injures you instantly at work, you should immediately report the injury to your supervisor. When you report an accident or incident, make a note of the time, place and circumstances of the accident or incident, the extent of your injuries, and the names of witnesses. You may need this information in the future for your workers compensation claim if your employer denies or disputes your claim.

2. Next, get medical treatment. Under most states' workers compensation law, your employer has the right to choose which doctor or medical provider you go to for work related injuries. You must accept the medical treatment provided or you will probably lose the right to compensation until you agree to accept the medical treatment provided.

If your employer will not send you to a doctor, you can go to the doctor that you choose. You will be responsible for paying the doctor, but you can seek to make your employer reimburse the cost of the doctor when you prove that you were hurt at work and that your employer refused to send you to a doctor.

If your employer does send you to a doctor, but you want to see your own doctor, you will be responsible for paying your doctor.

3. The next thing to do is file a claim with your state's workers compensation commission or board. Remember that each state has a time limit within which you must file your claim. If you wait to long to file your workers comp claim, you may lose it. Do not let anyone talk you into waiting or not filing your claim.

Occupational Disease:

If you suffer from an occupational disease such as black lung, brown lung, mesothelioma, or toxic exposure, you need to file a claim with your state's workers compensation commission or board as soon as you find out that you have the occupational disease. Remember, you must file your claim within the time limit set by your state's laws. And the time may start running from the time that you knew that you had an occupational disease, the time that you should have known that you had an occupational disease, the date of appearance of the disease, the date the disease was found on a test, or some other time set by your state's workers comp laws.

This ebook is for general information only and may or may not be applicable to your situation. If you have any questions whatsoever, talk with a lawyer licensed in your state.

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