Getting injured at work can greatly affect not only your physical and financial well being, but also your peace of mind. Unfortunately, most employees are not well informed on the appropriate measures to take when claiming compensation for their work-related injuries.

So, what steps should you follow when seeking compensation for a work-related injury?

Well, firstly, you need to report any personal injury accidents at work to your immediate supervisor. This is absolutely important even in cases where the injury is minor, and does not require immediate medical attention. In addition to this, you should ensure that you document the report by submitting a First Report of Injury sheet and informing your boss about the injury, either via email or text message. Furthermore, you should make sure that there are eyewitnesses (such as co – workers) when submitting the report. This provides you with a means of backing up your claim in case you are dealing with an unscrupulous employer, who may not want to compensate you for your injury.

The state of Florida’s legislation on workers’ compensation stipulates that all work-related injuries should be reported within 30 days of the incident. In cases where the actual course of the injury has not been established, the law provides a window period of 30 days for reporting the injury once the worker has determined that it was work-related.

However, most workers fail to report a work-related injury until it gets worse. Most times, this happens because a worker is too egoistic. For instance, a worker may dismiss an injury as minor and continue working (often ignoring the pain) in order to not appear weak in front of their peers. Days later the injury may continue to get worse due to lack of medical attention. The failure to report a work-related injury or seeking medical assistance often leads to greater health and financial difficulties.

In other cases, new employees fail to report injuries at work due to fear of losing their job. They may decide to continue working despite the serious injury, due to financial needs. While this may seem virtuous to them, failure to report work-related injuries and continuing to work under unhealthy conditions can greatly undermine any prospects of getting compensated. It can also lead to more serious health problems, which could result in them having to stay off work for weeks or months.

In order to avoid such scenarios, it is absolutely important that you promptly report any injuries you acquire at work and file a workers’ comp claim as soon as possible. This will not only allow you to get the medical assistance that you require, but it will also help you avoid getting caught up in a complex legal-financial tussle with your employer.

Make sure you report your accident as soon as it happens and seek the advice of a workers’ comp attorney to help you get compensation for any injuries that you may get at work.

It’s as simple as that!