Workers often look back on the day of their accident as the day their troubles began. The pain and medical bills that have continued for weeks or months are only part of their suffering, as most injured workers will also have to fight for their workers’ compensation benefits. Somehow, they must find the strength to get their injury benefits approved as they are unable to work and struggling with disabilities—and many will have their legitimate claims denied.
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Representing Injured Workers in Upper Arlington, Columbus, and Throughout Ohio
What to Do If You’re Injured at Work in Columbus
When you suffer an injury at work, you are likely not thinking about protecting your injury claim. However, the steps you take immediately after your accident are critical to your physical and financial recovery. There are three things you need to do as quickly as possible after you have been hurt at work.
Seek Medical Treatment
The first thing you need to do is get medical treatment for your injuries as quickly as possible. Workers’ compensation claims for accidents often begin in the emergency room, while those for repetitive strain or occupational disease may start at a scheduled appointment with your family doctor. No matter where you receive medical care, be sure to tell your doctor that your injury occurred while performing work-related duties.
Report Your Work Injury To Your Employer
After you have gotten emergency medical treatment, you must notify your employer in writing that you have been hurt on the job. People fail to report their work injuries surprisingly often, placing their benefits claims at risk. Regardless of the severity of your injury, report it to your manager or supervisor as soon as possible after it occurs. Keep a copy of all correspondence between you and your company’s representative, since proper documentation is critical for ensuring you receive compensation.
Speak With A Workers' Compensation Attorney
The next thing you must do is seek out expert legal advice to ensure that your Ohio workers’ compensation claim runs smoothly. If you are not happy with the treatment or attention you are receiving as a result of your injury, or if you feel that it's not being taken seriously or handled properly by your employer, our work injury lawyer can help. At Monast Law Office, our legal team handles every aspect of your work injury claim, from making sure your paperwork is complete and correct to speaking with your employer and the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation on your behalf. Contact our Columbus workers' compensation lawyer today for guidance on your workers’ comp claim.
Benefits of Hiring Our Work Injury Lawyer
By hiring our team, we can help injured workers in a number of ways including:
✓ Ensuring Benefit Eligibility and Filing New Claims
✓ Filing Appropriate Paperwork and Meeting Deadlines
✓ Helping You Seek Full and Appropriate Benefits
✓ Getting Medical Treatment & Medication Approved and Paid for
✓ Interact with Employers, MCOs, and the Ohio BWC
✓ We Handle Complicated, Hard to Prove, Pre-existing, Recurring, and Self-Insured Employer Claims
✓ Guidance on Rehabilitation and Job Training Assistance
✓ Representation at Hearings
✓ Guiding You Through Rehabilitation or Job Training Assistance
✓ Settlement Negotiations
✓ Appealing Denied Claims
In essence, you hire a lawyer to help you to play a game you don't know the rules, the tricks, or the players in the game. Since you don't know any of those, I recommend giving our team a call to discuss your situation in a free consultation.
Types of Work Injury Cases We Handle
Our work injury lawyer and staff help injured Columbus workers and their families recover compensation for all types of injuries including:
- Repetitive motion injuries. Ohio workers who experience frequent neck, shoulder, back, knee, foot, wrist, or joint pain may be suffering from an on-the-job injury. Frequent injuries from daily work activities include carpal tunnel syndrome from typing, disc herniation from bending and lifting, trigger finger caused by repeated gripping, and more.
- Slips and falls. A “simple” fall at work can often lead to complex injuries, including bone fractures, traumatic brain injury, neck and back injuries, damage to the spine, or tearing of the shoulder or knee joints.
- Work-related auto accidents. If you were on a work-related errand when you were involved in a car accident, you can collect workers’ compensation for your injuries. These cases may be more complex than other claims, since the accident usually does not take place on work premises.
- Significant injury and disfigurement. Some injuries can have permanent effects, such as explosions or fires that cause severe burns; chemical exposure that damages the eyes, ears, or face; crushing injuries that result in amputation of a limb; or accidents that cause permanent or total paralysis.
- Bending, lifting and back injuries. Lower back pain and related injuries is a very common reason employees miss work and can result in debilitating and difficult injuries to treat.
- Workplace assaults or violence. Any act of violence or assault on an employee that happens at work is compensable under workers’ compensation. Not only should you report your injury to an employer, you should also report the incidents to police.
- Occupational diseases. Daily exposure to hazardous chemicals and dangerous environments can cause toxins to build up in the body over time. Workers can suffer cancer through asbestos exposure, silicosis due to inhaling industrial residues, and even depression or post-traumatic stress and a result of a work injury.
- Death at work. When a factory accident, construction accident, or job-related motor vehicle accident takes the life of a loved one, the emotional and financial toll can be devastating. If your loved one has passed away in a work-related accident, you may qualify for Ohio workers’ compensation and death benefits.
- Other injuries. Severe cuts, broken bones, crush injuries, machine caused injuries, eye/ear/facial injuries, head and brain injuries, and more.
This is in no way a comprehensive list of all the types of injuries workers in Ohio are exposed to or who we can help. If your specific injury isn't listed, please give us a call to discuss your work injury and unique situation.
We Focus on Your Future While You Recover from Your Work Injury
Work injury lawyer James Monast is board-certified in Ohio workers’ compensation law, and has worked to obtain fair payment for injured and disabled workers for over 30 years. Our firm is dedicated to providing injured workers with the guidance and representation they need to recover from an on-the-job accident. If you have experienced an injury at work, our attorney can get you the financial support you need to get healthy again while you focus on taking care of your physical and emotional recovery. Fill out our contact form or call (614) 334-4649 to speak with a workers' comp lawyer in Columbus to find out how we can help.