An injury can truly change your life for a period of time or permanently. Injuries happen in a variety of ways including car accidents, falls, and workplace injuries. Workplace injuries can be complicated as you want to know your rights after the injury. This can be an uncomfortable situation as you might fear retaliation if you file any type of lawsuit. You want to be able to recover from your injury mentally, physically, and financially. The following are tips on how you should react after you are injured at work.
Seek Medical Treatment Immediately
Toughing it out should not be an option when you are injured at work. You don’t want an injury to be blamed on something that you did outside of work. This does happen as not all companies want to deal with the issues an injured employee can create. The right urgent care clinic is going to be very important. Adding Occmed to urgent care can be very important when following guidelines related to a work-related injury. Document every appointment that you have so you can prove that you followed the plan of care advised to you by your medical team.
Understand That An Investigation Will Be Done
There is likely going to be an investigation when you are hurt on the job. Understanding this can help you figure out what questions are going to be asked. Consulting an attorney might be the best course of action if you feel your employer is trying to dodge liability. Drug testing is frequently done after an injury in a way to shift liability to the injured employee. Never sign anything that has to do with your accident without having someone else look over it first.
Figure Out A Way To Earn Supplemental Income
Pushing yourself to get back from an injury too early can lead to aggravating the injury. People want to get back to work because they need the money. Freelance work is readily available for people with certain skills. Writers can make so much money in a few hours of work per day. Take the time to assess which of your current skills has the highest earning potential. You might find that you opt to freelance full-time instead of ever returning to a traditional job.
Returning To Work Might Be Uncomfortable
Returning to work after an injury or potential lawsuit due to a lack of safety standards can be uncomfortable. Document any interaction or conversation where you feel like you are being retaliated against. Do not take these to HR as this department is there to protect the company rather than the employees. In today’s world of email, there could be a large amount of proof that you are being treated unfairly.
The frustration of being injured in any capacity and unable to work can be overwhelming. The stress of not being able to provide for your family can compound this stress. Take control of this situation in the proper way so you can protect yourself as this is the most important thing you can do.