What To Do After An Injury At Work
When you have been injured on the job in Pompano Beach or elsewhere in South Florida, it is critical to know about the steps you should take following the injury. There are certain things you must do after a workplace injury, and there are also certain things that you should avoid doing following an injury on the job. If you need to know what to do after an injury at work, you should get in touch with an experienced Pompano Beach workers’ compensation attorney. The attorneys at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld, P.A. can provide you with more information concerning the specific facts of your case, but in the meantime consider the following steps after an injury.
- Document the Injury
First, you will want to document the injury in multiple ways. If you have a smartphone available, or if another co-worker has a smartphone, you should take photographs in the area where the injury happened so that you will be able to prove that it was a work-related injury and that it occurred in the course of you doing your job. It will also be important to write down your immediate recollections of the injury and how it happened. Information from the time of the injury is often more valuable than any recollections you write down at a later date. You can write down details of the injury with pen and paper, or you can take notes on a note-taking app on your phone. You can also write an email to yourself on your phone (or at your workplace computer, if you use a computer on the job) and send yourself an email with the details. In addition to writing down details of the injury, you should also note the names of any witnesses who saw you sustain the injury.
- See a Health Care Provider
If your injury is an emergency, Florida workers’ compensation law allows you to seek emergency care from a nearby emergency department regardless of whether the provider you see has been approved by your employer or the insurer. After the initial emergency care, you will need to see a provider who has been authorized by your employer or insurer, and your employer can provide you with this information. If your injury is not an emergency, you should obtain information about authorized providers and should seek medical attention from one of those providers as soon as possible.
- Report the Injury to Your Employer
You need to report your injury to your employer as soon as possible after the injury occurs. At the very latest, you must report the injury to your employer within 30 days from the date of the injury. Otherwise, if you fail to report the injury within that time window, Florida workers’ compensation law could bar you from obtaining workers’ compensation.
Contact a Pompano Beach Workers’ Compensation Lawyer
Once you have reported your injury, you should seek advice immediately from one of the Pompano Beach workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of David M. Benenfeld, P.A. about moving forward with your claim.
Source:
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0440/0440ContentsIndex.html
