How to Handle Work Injuries

Suffering an injury at work can lead to a lot of complications. Not only do you require time to heal, but there’s also handling the whole process that goes into reporting it. Here are some items to remember if you’re hurt on the job at any point.

Report Your Injury Immediately

The first thing you should do is immediately report your injury to your employer. Be it your supervisor or manager, make sure you tell them, as well as human resources. It’s important to do this in a timely fashion so that it helps support your claim. This makes it easier to prove that your injury really did happen while on the job. Did you know that in Pennsylvania, your claim could be denied if you fail to report it within a certain amount of time?

What Workers’ Compensation Covers

Any illness, whether it’s a disease or injury, that arises within the scope of employment is covered. This also applies to any injury that happens on your employer’s job site or premises.  Everything from loss of limbs, hearing, pre-existing condition aggravation, and more that occur due to job conditions apply.

Sometimes you might think you’ve suffered a minor injury that doesn’t seem like a big deal. However, this could potentially evolve into a more serious complication down the road. That’s why it’s important to report any and all injuries, great or small.

If you’re wondering about how fault plays into all of this, workers’ compensation is actually paid without any regard to fault. This means it doesn’t matter if the injury or disease was caused by working conditions, the employer, or even the employee.

Actions to Avoid

One very important thing to keep in mind is to not blame prior work injuries. This is because you may have an old injury that wasn’t causing you any problems until you started working your job. If that’s the case, the job is the cause of the injury flaring up after so long. Also keep in mind:

• Time off or cash should not be accepted in place of compensation.
• Your injuries should not be covered by your medical insurance.
• Do not sign anything. Go over everything with your workers’ compensation attorney.

For more information about receiving workers’ compensation, contact Caputo and Mariotti today to set up a free consultation.