It often happens quickly. You’re going about your business on a typical workday until something goes wrong. Then, before you know it, you’re in a lot of pain and probably feeling a tad overwhelmed by the shock of the incident and the severity of the pain from the injury itself.
The silver lining is that this is a completely normal reaction to have. That’s why we’ve put together a helpful step-by-step guide that can help inform you about what you need to do next. There are likely all sorts of questions swirling around inside your head right now, probably relating to the recovery process or the legal ramifications if your employer might be found to be at fault. So, without any further ado, let’s jump in.
Medical Attention
First things first, before you even think about talking to a lawyer or jumping through your workplace’s legal hoops, you need to make sure that you’re ok. To do so, you need a medical professional to assess your injury or injuries and inform you of what the recovery process will look like.
In a lot of cases, it might be tempting to put this off and be seen to ‘power through’, but, no matter how minor the injury might seem, you need to prioritise your own health. This is because even seemingly small injuries can appear to be mild at first, but actually develop into something much more serious down the line – like broken ribs or even brain injuries.
If the injury presents an immediate emergency, then you should either call an ambulance or ask someone close by to call 999 for one. If your injury is less severe, then report the incident to your workplace's first aid officer before going to the hospital.
If you are able to, make a note of exactly what happened during the incident: what caused it, when and where it happened, and what your injuries are. This might help because you’ll be required to go into detail with doctors and nurses. Try your best to clearly describe even the most minor symptoms that you’re feeling, just because it’ll help to give them the full picture of what’s really happening.
Report the Injury
After you’ve been seen by a medical professional and you have a recovery plan in place, the next item on the agenda is reporting the incident and injury through the proper channels at your workplace.
It’s understandable why a lot of people might be reluctant to follow through with this, but if you’ve been injured in the workplace, then it’s vital that you take this step. Your company won’t think you’re stirring up trouble; in fact, even small businesses have systems and processes in place that exist for this exact situation. If you still have some lingering uncertainty, you can double-check with your line manager, but if you do, we’d recommend doing so via email, just so you have it in writing.
When it comes to reporting the incident and the injury, do not fabricate or embellish details. Detail precisely what happened, when it happened, and where it happened. If there was any machinery or equipment involved, or if any specific workplace conditions (like a wet floor) caused the incident. After you’ve reported the injury, you and your employer should be on the same page about what exactly went wrong and how to prevent it from ever happening again.
Seek Legal Advice
An injury in the workplace can be a challenging situation to navigate alone – especially while you’re still recovering. Sure, your employer may be able to give you some tidbits of information about filing a claim, but in almost every case, it’s best to get legal support from a solicitor who handles personal injury cases all the time and knows them like the back of their hand.
A personal injury solicitor, like Bond Turner, can tell you whether you have a case, for instance, for loss of a limb compensation or whiplash, and give you a complete roadmap of what to expect. For particularly mentally and physically demanding situations such as this, getting the right help will likely help you lift the weight off your shoulders and allow you to focus your energy on recovering.
Recovery
Which brings us to recovery. After your initial visit to the hospital, you will have been told your timeframe for recovery, as well as the best ways to ensure that it is optimal, like minimising physical activity and exercise, and avoiding alcohol.
This often entails taking some time off work, which is extremely normal. The vast majority of employers take no issue with this whatsoever, as it is completely unavoidable.
In Conclusion
Getting injured at all is stressful, let alone when it’s tangled in the complexity of happening at your place of work. If you only take away a couple of things from this article, it should be to put your faith in the professionals for their support. Medical staff will help guide you on a path to recovery, HR staff at your workplace should follow the appropriate procedures to ensure that the correct outcome is achieved, and finally, legal support will give you the knowledge and reassurance you need to make the best decisions moving forward.