If you have suffered an injury at work, you may be considering making a workers compensation claim. However, before a compensation lawyer can move forward with your case, they will need to establish if the injury was caused by your workplace environment or a work related task. Before contacting a compensation lawyer, you should ask yourself the following questions.
Did the injury happen in the workplace?
You should think about location in which the injury occurred. If you were on your employer's property carrying out a work-related task, such as climbing a ladder in a warehouse when you had a fall, then it is clear that the injury is work-related.
However, in other cases, it may be more difficult to determine the if the injury is related to your work. For example, you may develop joint pain and assume this is related to your manual labour job. However, there could be another non-work related cause of your joint pain.
Did the injury occur as a result of off-site duties?
Your lawyer will also want to establish if your injury is a result of off-site duties. For example, if your job requires you to drive a vehicle for extended periods of time, you may develop back pain. This would qualify as a workplace injury, even though it occurred off-site.
Is the injury emotional?
Workplace injuries are not only physical, they can also be emotional. Many people do not realise that even if they are not physically hurt, they may still be able to claim compensation. For example, if your employer has placed you under an excessive amount of pressure, this could result in stress and depression or if you have witnessed a traumatic event in the course of your duties, you may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. If this is the case, you should contact a lawyer.
Could the injury pre-date your current job?
Before you contact a workers compensation lawyer, you should establish exactly when the damaging event which caused the injury occurred. Often a claim can hinge on arguments related to when the injury actually occurred, For example, injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome may occur but you may not experience symptoms for an extended period of time. If you are claiming that you are suffering carpal tunnel syndrome because of repetitive movements related to your current job, but have previously worked in similar environments, your employer may argue that the injury was actually sustained before you started working for them.
For more information, contact a workers compensation lawyer today.
Share13 February 2017
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