Construction and Manufacturing Accidents

While nobody thinks that he or she will be severely injured on a job site, accidents happen in every field. When you are working in construction or manufacturing, the smallest accident can have a large impact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported 19,937 serious injuries during the two-year span of 2015 and 2016. In addition, millions of people suffer less serious injuries on the job each year.

When you are injured at work, you may have to deal with medical bills, lost wages, and much more. Worker’s compensation exists to help people who are injured or who become sick while working, or as a result of working. Workers’ compensation will cover those medical bills and lost wages, allowing you to focus on your recovery.

To be covered, the employee must be accidentally injured while doing his/her job, or become sick as a result of doing the job. Construction and manufacturing are the two industries that have the highest number of serious injury claims due to the physical nature of the jobs. If you work in one of these fields and you are injured, it is important to take the correct steps to ensure that your claim processes smoothly.

If you are injured as a result of your job, here are some things you should know:

• Always report your injury immediately. Occasionally, people think that their injury isn’t serious enough to report and that it will heal on its own. Never assume that your injury is too small to report and report it as soon as possible. If you are not asked to complete paperwork about the injury, demand that the report is made in writing.
• Seek medical treatment immediately and ensure that your medical provider knows that it was an on-the-job injury. Most emergency rooms, clinics, and doctor’s offices will have space on their admission forms to indicate that it’s a workplace injury. Double check to make sure that the facility you choose handles workers’ comp claims, and that your employer approved the choice of medical provider, if there’s time to make this inquiry.
• Document the injury in your medical records. Detail as much information as possible, including dates, affected areas, limitations, and how the injury happened.
• Workers’ compensation companies can be unresponsive. If you experience this issue, your attorney can help guide you through the process and get the attention of the insurance company.
• Even if you’ve done everything correctly, some insurance carriers will deny your claim immediately. If you are denied, call us right away.
• Be honest. Fabricating details can lead to questions of the entire claim’s legitimacy and insurance companies hire investigators to thoroughly examine all claims.

When you are hurt, you may be eligible for multiple benefits including medical, future medical, temporary disability, and permanent disability. Because insurance companies are not in the habit of explaining all of your potential benefits, it is best to hire a workers’ compensation attorney as soon as possible.