Recovering and healing after an accident at the office

Recovering and healing after an accident at the office

Accidents at work are, unfortunately, still a common occurrence. While not as regular as they used to be in the not-so-distant past, mainly owing to several safety regulations aimed to keep employees safe that have been adopted over the years, accidents still happen. Not all of them are the same. While some are minor, and you’ll be able to recover from them almost immediately, and with minimal medical care, others are far more serious. Some injuries can keep you away from the office for a long time, and you may be left struggling with the effects for many months after the initial injury. 

No matter how careful you are, it’s still possible that you may experience an accident or injury. So, what is there to do if you have to struggle with this severely unpleasant situation? 

Immediate medical attention 

It should be a given, but it may still need to be said. The first thing you should do after becoming injured is to see a doctor. Although you’re at work, you should forget about the rest of your tasks for the day and have a physician check your condition. If your injuries are severe, you’ll naturally be transported to a hospital immediately. However, if your wounds are not as apparent, you might be tempted to brush them off and continue working. For example, you may slip and fall, and while it will be painful, you will probably think that you’re perfectly fine after the initial discomfort has subsided. 

Some injuries don’t leave any externally visible damage, but that doesn’t mean everything is right internally. You could have sustained an injury that doesn’t give off symptoms until twenty-four or even forty-eight hours after your accident. After that, your condition can worsen rapidly, and you will probably have to be rushed to the emergency room. 

Before you leave for the hospital or clinic, you should also be provided with medical assistance on-site. All workplaces are required to have a first aid kit at hand that should be used as you’re waiting for a medical professional to conduct an assessment. 

Report your injuries 

Talking to your manager as soon as possible is essential for several reasons. First, the details of what happened will be officially recorded as quickly as possible so that you don’t have to deal with any confusion about your case. It also means that an official assessment can start in your workplace to determine why exactly the accident occurred. If the reason is due to unfit practices or a lack of care for specific regulations, the problem should be resolved as quickly as possible to ensure that there will be no other employee will become injured in a similar way. 

Reporting your injuries in due time is also essential if you’d like to sue for compensation. When you hire a compensation solicitor, you’ll be informed that you must provide the necessary proof of your injuries and the health damage you sustained. By reporting the accident to your employer and the HR department, there’s undeniable proof that it occurred right as you claim. 

Another important aspect of this step is to get confirmation from witnesses. It’s likely that other employees were on site when you were injured, and their testimonies could support yours. Their words can even be used in court to support your case and offer an objective perspective. The person who offered you first aid should provide testimony as well, including the circumstances of the accident and the extent of your injuries. 

Another option is to gain access to CCTV footage. This can provide a strong case against your employer, as it will show how their duty of care towards you was breached. Maybe it was a case of faulty or outdated equipment, or you were working with inadequate equipment. Whichever the case, you should receive the amount of compensation that you deserve so you can move on from the incident and be confident that you’ve achieved justice. 

Keep a record 

The money you’re eligible to receive as compensation will largely depend on the extent of your injuries. If your wounds were severe and necessitated special medical treatment, you’ll receive a higher amount than if you recovered mainly on your own or with minimal treatment. This is because your recovery will also take longer in the former case, and you need more money for your medical treatments. 

However, there are additional expenses that you can incur as part of your accident. When you become injured, your whole schedule is turned upside down, and your life has to change. Your plans will have to be postponed until you feel better, and you might struggle with financial difficulties in the aftermath. It’s important to keep track of all of these, as they can add to the final amount you’ll receive as part of your compensation. They can include:

• Travel expenses: After an accident, you have to visit your doctor for regular check-ups. Your physician must keep track of your progress, adjust your treatment if you don’t respond well to the current one, and recommend additional forms of therapy to help you get over feeling unwell. You might even have to travel outside the city or country for treatment. All these travelling expenses can pile up and weigh you down.
• Home adaptation: If you’ve sustained chronic damage due to your accident, you’ll need to make the necessary home adjustments that allow you to continue using your home. Depending on what you need to do, this home modification project can become quite costly.
• Loss of income: in extreme cases, you might have to quit your job because the injuries you sustained are incompatible with the work you used to do. In this case, you are indeed eligible to receive a higher amount of compensation money. 

Going through an accident can be very challenging. The path to recovery is difficult, but healing is not impossible. If you have a strong support group of both friends and professionals around you, you’ll be able to navigate this time much more smoothly.