Machinery & Equipment Accidents Attorneys
Have You Been Hurt on the Job?
Your boss has yelled at you three times already this week for being late and so you have made it a point to rush onto the job site as fast as possible to avoid a fourth, and more than likely last, warning. But you didn’t count on the nail sticking up in one of the steps leading down onto the sales floor. By the time your toe hits it as you run down those stairs, you’re already flying through the air. By the time you land, you realize something’s broken but you have no idea what. The pain is too great and you find yourself dazed and confused, unsure of what to do next.
If this or anything like it has happened to you, the first thing you should do is stay absolutely still. You never know when your neck could be broken, or something more serious than things first appeared. The next thing you should do is contact an attorney who can help you build a case to get you back to work.
An attorney will tell you what to do in this kind of situation, and more than likely he’s going to tell you to get a copy of the incident report.
Incident Report
When situations like this happen, the manager on duty is supposed to take photos and make an incident report of the situation. This is standard procedure in most corporate type jobs and even in factories. If the manager doesn’t do any of these things, it’s up to you to gather evidence. In fact, you shouldn’t rely on the manager’s assessment of events when making your case. So, while you can use information the manager gathers for the report, you’ll want to do your own fact digging to help your case.
Evidence
When you were hired by your company you probably had to undergo an orientation that showed you the proper way to perform your duties and other safety related information. Some companies make their employees watch movies that show people how to properly lift something heavy, how to climb ladders and even how to open and close filing cabinets. This is all designed to prevent accidents.
The company is supposed to do all it can to prevent accidents from happening but it’s up to you to determine if anything was done to prevent your accident from happening. If you were running down the stairs in the hopes that your manager wouldn’t see that you were late and you tripped on a nail sticking up out of the stairs, the company would be liable. That means you need to take photos of that nail and you need to get witness testimony that proves the boss knew the nail was there and failed to do anything about it.
Your attorney will more than likely gather this type of information for you, but you should try to gather as much evidence as you can before you even talk to your attorney. The more information you can gather that proves your company could have prevented your accident, the higher your chances will be of getting the compensation you need to get back on your feet after your unfortunate accident.
