When you are injured at work, you have an option of filing a worker's compensation claim in order to cover your medical care and needs related to the injury, as well as to reimburse you for lost wages. When you are injured at work, there are important mistakes you need to avoid if you want to ensure that your worker's compensation claim goes through.

Mistake #1: Not Reporting the Injury Right Away

When you are hurt at work, even if you think it isn't a big deal, you still need to report your injury right away. The truth is that even if an injury doesn't seem like that big of a deal, it could have serious consequences.

Your workplace should have a policy in place for reporting injures that you sustain at work. For example, if you cut your arm at work, you should file out a report. If you suffer an injury or accident at work, in most states, you have to report the injury to your workplace within a set amount of days, which is why you need to make the report right away.

Not all injuries are that obvious; if you suffer from an occupational illness, you have more time to report the connection to your employer. For example, if you experience pain in your hand, and realize that it is from a repetitive task you do at work, you have a little more leeway reporting that injury.

Mistake #2: Not Getting Medical Treatment

The second common mistake that many employees make is trying to treat their injuries on their own. Sure, you can bandage up that deep cut on your own, but it would be better to go to the urgent care and have a doctor document and address the wound.

Getting medical treatment is important because it allows for your injuries to be formally documented by a medical professional and shows that you are taking steps to treat your injury.

Mistake #3: Not Getting Professional Assistance

Finally, another big mistake that people make when they are injured at work is not getting legal assistance. When you are hurt at work, it is important for you to get legal assistance with the process. The process for filing a worker's compensation claim is not very user friendly and having a worker's compensation attorney to guide the process helps increase the chance that your claim will be successful, and you will get the compensation you deserve.

If you are injured at work, make sure you report the injury right away, get medical treatment to document the injury, and get an attorney to assist you with the process. Doing these three things will help increase the chance of your worker's compensation claim providing you with the financial support that you need.

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