There is a small line separating negligence of an employer or an accident by the employee. Nevertheless, as an employee you ought to know the rights that protect you when you get an injury while at work.
Start by checking the safety of your workstation and request all the Personal Protective Equipment required for any task assigned to you.
Lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Your employer should avail all the required PPEs upon the allocation of a task. If your employer is not doing this, it indicates a high level of negligence on safety at work. Furthermore, safety signs should be available and rightfully positioned within the workplace. For example, signs of wet floors or high voltage will alert you to be extra careful.
Insufficient Training
Suppose you have just begun your job, your employer must give you all the necessary training required to perform your job. For instance, if your job entails handling machinery, your employer’s responsibility is to train and equip you with all necessary information to deliver on the task. If you aren’t trained properly and still instructed to handle any sort of machinery, you are in danger of sustaining an injury
and you need to confront your employer.
Unclear Contracts
It is essential to ensure you work with a well-documented contract regarding your work that indicates the health risks involved and conditions for compensation when an accident happens. An injury caused by negligence is entitled to compensation. When an accident happens, first inform your employer immediately and get medical assistance. After that, get in touch with your job site accident lawyer to guide you on the next steps of filing for compensation. Remember that any legal claim should indicate the injury caused and show that your employer breached his contract. If your contract is ambiguous and you aren’t sure if your injury is covered in it, speak to your lawyer anyway as odds are that you are still entitled to compensation.
Poor Supervision
Even with good training, you will require proper supervision when performing your job in the form of having a coworker nearby in case of emergencies or having a supervisor on site. This is both to protect you and your coworkers from failing to get emergency help when injured and so that you have someone to report to in the event of misconduct from coworkers or customers. If another worker endangers you and nothing is done regarding this, you should file a report for abuse. If this kind of abuse happens in your workplace with the employer’s full awareness, you are eligible for compensation.
Accidents are sometimes inevitable, but to remain safe ensure you have taken the right job, properly trained and well supervised. Your employer should guarantee your safety at work is never compromised by the management and other employees. If your employer fails to take the proper precautions and follow up steps, you need to seek legal counsel to protect your rights and health in the workplace.