Odenton, MD Work Injury Lawyer
People expect to show up for work every day in safe conditions to do their jobs peacefully. Unfortunately, not all workplaces are as safe as they should be, and accidents might injure workers.
If you are injured in a workplace accident, you should call for help, report the injury to your supervisor or boss, and call a lawyer. Nobody wants to make waves at work, but you deserve compensation for the harm and pain inflicted upon you, and an attorney can help you file a lawsuit to get fair compensation. Proving your claims might be a difficult hurdle to jump. With photos, videos, witnesses, and other evidence from your workplace, we can prove that your employer or other parties are liable for your injuries. We also must prove the extent of your damages, including financial losses such as lost income and non-economic injuries like suffering, physical pain, humiliation, and more.
Call (410) 694-7291 to schedule a confidential claim review for no charge with our work injury lawyers at Rice, Murtha & Psoras.
What to Do if You Are Hurt at Work in Odenton, MD
Being injured at work can be an unpleasant, even frightening experience. Many people are actually afraid of getting emergency help because they fear losing their job for “making a scene.” If you are injured, the very first thing you should do is call for emergency medical help. Do not risk your health and well-being for your job. Someone else can cover you while you are out, or your job can work around your absence.
After calling for help, you should immediately notify your employer or supervisor of the accident. In many cases, accident scenes remain dangerous, and other people who come into contact with the scene might also be injured. Reporting the accident immediately means it will be repaired and cleaned up faster. Also, your employer should document your accident in relevant business records.
No matter what your employer, supervisor, or coworkers tell you, you should contact an attorney to discuss your injuries. It is possible that your accident was the result of your employer’s negligent behavior or failure to keep the workplace safe. Depending on the situation, we might be able to sue your boss for damages.
Another important step you should try to take after being injured is to gather evidence from the accident scene quickly. For example, you should quickly take some photos and record videos of the area where you were injured. Your photos and videos might depict unsafe working conditions, and we can present these recordings in court if we have to. However, if you are very badly hurt, focus on getting medical care first, and our work injury lawyers will help you find evidence for your claims later.
Why You Should Consider Filing a Lawsuit for Work Injuries in Odenton, MD
The decision to file a lawsuit is not always easy, especially when it comes to injuries in the workplace. On the one hand, your accident might have been very serious. Perhaps you have significant medical bills you cannot afford without compensation from your negligent boss. On the other hand, you might still need your job and fear that a lawsuit might instigate retaliation from your employer, and you could be unfairly terminated.
One of the biggest reasons injured workers file lawsuits is because the costs of their injuries are too great. Medical treatment today is so expensive that many people are unprepared to pay for even one emergency room bill. If your injuries are serious, you might have extensive treatments to pay for. The need for compensation is especially dire for those whose employers do not provide them with health insurance.
Another major consideration is the closure that a lawsuit might bring you. Being injured because of someone else’s negligence can feel very violating, especially if the responsible party does not show much remorse. A lawsuit can help you get justice, and through justice comes closure, allowing you to move on.
How to Prove Your Work Injury Claims in Odenton, MD
Proving your claims for damages requires evidence. While having a large pool of strong evidence to pull from is ideal, it is not always realistic. Employers often clean up accident scenes quickly, and precious evidence might be lost forever. Even so, strong cases can be built on the back of only a few pieces of key evidence.
As mentioned earlier, photos and videos from the accident scene can be of great help. If you cannot take any photos yourself, there might be security camera footage we can obtain. We should look into this because many workplaces today are monitored by security cameras.
We should also speak to your coworkers and others who might have been present when the accident occurred. Witness testimony may be very persuasive to a jury even without photos or videos of the accident.
We should also find records that might be relevant to your accident. For example, your employer should be keeping various business records that might shed light on how the accident happened. These records might indicate that proper maintenance had not been performed for a very long time, thus contributing to the accident. On top of that, we can find records of OSHA violations, as the workplace safety issues in your case might be an ongoing problem.
Damages You Can Claim in Your Odenton, MD Work Injury Case
Among your numerous damages are economic and non-economic injuries. Economic injuries are those that cost you money, and non-economic injuries are based more on personal experience.
Some common economic damages include medical bills and lost income. Of course, your injuries should be immediately treated by a doctor. Unfortunately, medical treatment is usually accompanied by medical bills. Your medical bills might be staggeringly high if your injuries require extensive treatment.
You might also experience a significant loss in income. You might be so badly hurt that you cannot return to your job for a long time. If that time is not covered by some form of paid leave, you can claim the loss of earnings and wages as part of your damages. This is especially important in workplace injury cases where employers might fire injured workers to avoid liability.
Non-economic injuries are based on how you experienced the accident and your injuries. For example, your physical pain might be intense, and your emotional trauma might also be devastating. On top of that, people injured at work might be utterly humiliated in front of colleagues and coworkers. As a result, their professional reputation might be tarnished, possibly beyond repair. These experiences deserve compensation.
Call Our Odenton, MD Work Injury Attorneys for a Free Claims Assessment
Call (410) 694-7291 to arrange a private claim evaluation for no charge with our work injury attorneys at Rice, Murtha & Psoras.