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This is a collaborative post.
If you’ve suffered an accident in the workplace, there’s a good chance that it wasn’t your fault. The blame could instead lie with your employer who failed to create a safe working environment. Or the blame might fall on a colleague who was either negligent or not adequately trained to keep you safe. In this situation, you should contact an accident at work solicitor to see if you might be entitled to compensation. Read on to find out the next three things you should do after an accident at work.
When you get an injury
It’s important that you focus on your injury first and foremost. You shouldn’t focus on gathering evidence before tending to your accident. Every workplace should have someone trained in first-aid – you should see them as soon as you can after sustaining your injury. If the first-aider can’t get your injuries under control, then you should head to A&E or call an ambulance as soon as possible. If your injury is minor but doesn’t heal over time, you should see your GP to prevent it from becoming a lifelong condition. It can be frustrating to spend time dealing with an injury, but it’s worth it in the long term.
Reporting to a colleague
Your next step should be to report your accident to your colleagues. If you’re going to make a claim in the future, it’s important that there are witnesses who can verify that you had an accident at work. Otherwise, an organisation and their insurers can deny that this happened. You should also tell your manager about the accident: your employer is legally obliged to report the accident to the Health and Safety Executive.
Evidence
Finally, you should gather evidence of your injuries from the accident to be used later in your claim. For a start, an accident handbook is a legal requirement in the office and you should ensure that your accident is recorded here as evidence. This can also help reduce the number of accidents at work for your colleagues in the future. On top of this, you should take photos and video evidence of the place where the accident happened and of your injuries. Plus, you should fill in a diary consistently, updating it with your symptoms and any pain you’re suffering. A doctor’s evaluation is important too, for providing an independent expert’s perspective.
Suffering an accident at work can be traumatic – especially if you incur significant injuries. But by responding carefully with the steps above and by making a claim, you can get back on track and focus on your recovery.