Even though companies strongly enforce safety rules slips, trips, and falls happen. You are working and following all safety rules when you slip and fall. You may not know what to do after you fall. There are steps that you should follow to make sure you get adequate and fair compensation.
Tell your supervisor and get medical attention.
Report your fall to your immediate supervisor. They will need to document what happened. Make sure you seek medical attention even if you think you don’t need it. Don’t decline to see a doctor right away. There may be a serious injury that doesn’t show up right away. By going to the doctor, you are beginning to document the timing and details of your case for workman’s compensation. Having professional documentation of all injuries or any possible future injuries will make it harder for the company to block the claim by saying your injuries happened away from work.
Inspect the scene of the fall.
Look around where you fell. What caused you to fall? By determining what caused you to fall, the people reviewing your case can decide if there was something the company could have done to prevent the accident. Make sure you take pictures of the scene. This will document the scene for the investigators. It doesn’t matter if you know what you are taking pictures of, take as many pictures as you can. Your attorney can tell you what is going to be relevant to your case later.
Find out if there were witnesses.
Having a witness account will be very important to your case. They can confirm what happened and what caused the fall. Make sure you include any witness names and their accounts in your official report. Make sure an official report of the incident is filed. Your supervisor may try to say an official report isn’t necessary but insist that one is filed.
Write everything down.
Memory can be faulty. Make sure you write down every detail of the slip and fall as soon as possible. You want to preserve as many details as possible and you don’t want to run the risk of forgetting something important later. Make sure you give this account to your attorney.
Don’t talk too much about the fall.
You want to make sure you are only stating the facts and that you don’t talk to too many people. That can muddle what facts or reembraces of the event. Make sure that when you do talk that you don’t blame the company or take any blame on yourself. This could be used against you later in the claim. DO NOT POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA! If you go on social media with complaints or blame it can damage your case.
Hire an attorney as quick as you can.
You may need to fight to get your claim to workman’s compensation so you will want to start working with an attorney as soon as you can. This way they can start working on your case and getting all the documentation they need. Having an attorney will help you have the best chance of ensuring your claim is approved.
Slips and falls can really make a big impact on your life. You could have lost time at work and lost wages. Having an attorney to facilitate the process can only help you. Don’t let a slip and fall incident change your life. Following these steps will help you get started on building a solid case for workman’s compensation. Remember that documentation is essential to any case. Every detail and every piece of evidence can only help you.