If you were on a construction site and suffer certain bodily injuries such as a head wound or broken leg that causes you to stay off work for some weeks or months, you are eligible to seek legal recourse. Worker’s compensation could help you to a point but hiring a construction accident attorney could make sure you get sufficiently compensated.
In several cases, violations of the safety standards at a workplace can contribute to severe accidents that would result in injuries. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has termed four most common construction accidents as the “Fatal Four”. These include: Falls, electrocutions, getting struck by heavy objects, getting caught between objects. Since these injuries severally affect the physical body of a person, they often take a long time to heal which lead to financial losses.
Thus it is important that you familiarize yourself with the following steps if such an accident occurs to you:
1Seek medical treatment immediately
Due to the massive equipment and dangerous chemicals kept in construction sites, accidents can lead to severe injuries which would require immediate medical attention. Even in cases where you may suffer from cuts and bruises, it is advisable to have the injuries documented by a medical representative since they might result in infections.
2Report the accident to your employer
It is extremely important that you report the accident to your employer and give them the exact details in relation to it. Provide a notification to your immediate supervisor, HR representative or any designated company contact even in cases of minor injuries. This would create a record through which monetary reparation can be claimed later.
3Know your workers’ compensation rights
All the 50 states utilize certain forms of workers’ compensation that is covered under the employer’s insurance policy. Some laws limit the workers to be able to only receive workers’ compensation for injuries that occurred on the job site, removing third party claims from options. It is possible to receive compensation from parties other than their employers in cases where the injury was not caused by job safety but by other means.
4Gather Information from Supervisor
If the third party was liable of providing faulty machinery, you can file a personal injury claim. Your supervisors need to provide you with information related to receive workers’ compensation coverage for you accident. It is essential that you don’t sigh a settlement offer given to you by your employer without consulting with an experienced attorney first.
It is advisable to hire an attorney to guide you through the right procedures.
Originally posted 2017-07-15 00:55:17.
