Work
  Accidents

If you have an injury or illness that might be covered by workers' compensation, it's important to take the right steps when seeking medical treatment. Getting appropriate medical care is important, not only for your health and recovery, but also for maximizing your workers' comp benefits and making sure that you're properly compensated for your injuries.

COMMON CAUSES

Accidents and Injuries in the workplace are common, and may include simple trips and falls that cause minor injuries, or they cause major life-changing injuries.

Some accidents are due to poor training and support, while others might be down to a lack of adequate health and safety procedures. Sometimes there may have been no assessments of risks or a severe lack of overall consideration to employee health and safety on the part of the company.

DIAGNOSIS

Even with the advancement of medical technology, doctors still rely on patients to report symptoms, severity of pain, and activities that are difficult or impossible to perform. This is especially true for soft tissue injuries; these injuries don't involve bones and often cannot be verified through medical imaging like x-rays. Because some injuries can be more subjective in nature, it's especially important for you to communicate with your doctor about what you're feeling. In doing so, you should follow these guidelines:

• Be honest and accurate: Describe your symptoms to your doctor truthfully. Don't exaggerate, but don't downplay your symptoms either. An experienced doctor will know when you're not telling the truth, and you'll lose credibility.
• Don't speculate: If you don't know the answer to a question your doctor asks, just say so. Never guess about what the cause of your injuries might be, and don't say that you have fully recovered unless you're sure that's the case.

TREATMENT

You should seek treatment right away for any injury, even if it seems minor. This means seeing a doctor immediately after a work-related accident or at the first sign of any symptoms that might be due to your work duties or to toxic exposure on the job. Getting prompt treatment serves two important purposes:

• First: early treatment makes it more likely that you'll recover from your injuries faster.
• Second: the closer in time to your accident that you receive treatment, the less room it gives your employer (or its insurance company) to argue that your medical condition isn't related to your work.

No matter what, you should resist the urge to "tough it out" or downplay the seriousness of your injuries. This can delay or impede your recovery, and it can affect the scope of treatment authorized by workers' comp or the number of benefits you ultimately receive.