Workplace accidents and injuries can, unfortunately, happen. It is important for injured workers to understand that workers’ compensation is a no-fault system and regardless of how they were injured, they may be able to receive workers’ compensation benefits to help them with wage replacement benefits and medical care need to treat their workplace injury or illness.
What to do following a workplace accident or injury
Workers who have been injured on the job should take several important steps following that accident or injury including:
- Seek necessary medical treatment – injured workers should seek the necessary medical treatment they need for the care of their injuries. They should ensure that they share that their injuries were suffered at work so that the history of the injury is documented.
- Maintain detailed medical records – it is helpful for injured workers to take control of their medical records which will be needed for whatever workers’ compensation claim is made. By ensuring they keep complete and detailed records, they can improve their workers’ compensation claim process.
- Notify your employer – workers have 30 days in New York to notify their employer of the workplace injuries they have suffered and the workplace accident that caused them. It is important to ensure this deadline is met.
- Complete necessary workers’ compensation paperwork – injured workers will need to pursue their workers’ compensation claim by completed all necessary paperwork.
Workers’ compensation benefits are important for injured workers who have suffered a workplace injury and now find themselves out of work and with costly medical expenses. For that reason, injured workers need to know what to do after they have been injured at work and how they can pursue a claim for workers’ compensation benefits to obtain the benefits they need.