Nobody thinks they’ll be the one to get injured on the job, especially those that work in low-risk professions. But thousands of personal injury claims for workers compensation are submitted each year, and the next one could be yours. So just in case you should suffer an accident or injury in the course of your work, you need to know what steps to take to ensure that you receive the consideration, treatment, and compensation you deserve. Here are a few tips to get you on track for filing a claim and obtaining recovery for your losses.
- Seek treatment immediately. The first thing you need to do in case of an accident is get the medical attention you need. You can use any first aid that is available at your office, but you should visit a hospital, urgent care, or your personal physician as soon as possible. If you end up needing medical attention and you want workers compensation to pay for it, you may need paperwork to file with your claim. If you wait too long to seek professional medical help, you could find your claim in question, so it’s always best to get checked out immediately, even if you think it might not be very serious.
- Inform your boss. You need to let your boss or supervisor know that you’ve suffered an accident as soon as possible. Technically you have up to 30 days to inform your boss in writing of the accident if you want to file a claim for workers comp. But you really should inform him/her the same day or the next day at the latest, at least by phone, email, or in person. You can submit your written account later, but you shouldn’t wait too long if you want to expedite the payout process.
- Write down what happened. You should take the time to write down exactly what happened as soon as you are able simply because you need to get the details on paper while they’re still fresh in your memory. It could be important if your employer doesn’t want to cover your claim or if it falls through with workers comp in some way. Then you may need to retain the services of an attorney in order to file a personal injury suit against the company.
- Seek witness statements. If there were witnesses present when your accident occurred, you should get them to write out sworn statements, especially if the accident was due to negligence by another employee or the company itself, or if your injuries were the result of direct action by another employee. If no witnesses were present at the time of the accident, you may still be able to secure statements from the first people to arrive on the scene. If your claim goes through, you may not need these statements, but if there are legal issues, you’ll be glad you took the time to obtain them.
- Fill out and file a claim. Finally, you need to file a claim with workers compensation. You have up to two years to file a claim, and although most people don’t need that much time, you could have ongoing health issues stemming from an accident that don’t show up until later. Simply go to the Workers Compensation Board website to print out the forms and find out where to mail them.
Jamie Levic is a contributing writer for the Maryland Accident Lawyer Group at Price Benowitz LLP. The firm has offices in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and New York and handles DUI, criminal, immigration, personal injury, and disability cases.