Hurt in a Workplace Fall? A Lawyer Can Help You Recover

According to a research study released by the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), slip and fall accidents account for more than one million visits each year to emergency rooms located throughout the United States. Some of the most common places where victims slip and fall include stadiums, shopping malls, and grocery stores. One venue that also reports a considerable number of slip and fall accidents is the workplace. Employees can slip and fall on a slick surface, trip and fall over an electrical cord, and fall from an elevated height, such as a ladder or scaffold. The difference between falling in the workplace and sustaining injuries from a slip and fall at other venues concerns the type of lawyer you need to work with to recover financial losses.

Any type of fall can result in debilitating injuries. Severe injuries such as brain trauma, fractured ribs, and spinal cord damage require emergency medical care to mitigate the painful symptoms. Then, victims have to complete several treatment programs and physical therapy sessions to reacquire the physical skills required to get back into the workforce. If you sustained one or more injuries in the workplace, how do you get your employer to pay for the costs of medical care, as well as any income lost because of missed time from work?

The answer is to retain the legal counsel of an experienced fall at work lawyer. A fall at work lawyer handles cases that involve workers’ compensation, which is an insurance policy taken out by employers to cover the costs associated with accidents in the workplace. Unlike personal injury lawsuits, workers’ compensation does not place legal liability on a party to cover the costs associated with sustaining one or more injuries. Instead, employers purchase workers’ compensation insurance as protection against employees that want to take legal action for sustaining injuries in the workplace. Most states require employers to purchase a minimum value for workers’ compensation insurance.

At Morgan and Morgan, we have more than 35 years of experience representing clients that file workers’ compensation claims. Our law firm also includes a highly-rated personal injury division that handles cases that involve sustaining injuries as a result of one party committing at least one act of negligence. If you sustained one or more injuries in the workplace, having a state-licensed workers’ compensation attorney on your side can help you file a persuasive claim for compensation.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with a fall at work lawyer from Morgan and Morgan to learn more about the workers’ compensation claim process.

What Are the Most Common Causes of Falls at Work?

One of the most prevalent reasons for employees sustaining injuries from falls at work is a lack of training. Employers not only should provide workplace safety training during orientation, but also provide ongoing training to educate workers about the safety tips recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA is the federal government agency that processes workers’ compensation complaints.

Let’s review the most common causes of falls at work.

Slick Surfaces

The same wet floors that create safety hazards for customers and visitors also pose health risks for employees. Workers at public venues such as hotels, restaurants, and convenience are just as vulnerable to sustaining injuries caused by slip and fall accidents. The same safety protocols apply for preventing employees from sustaining injuries as a result of slip and fall incidents. Managers are responsible for implementing safety measures that include placing Wet Floor signs over slick surfaces, as well as acting with a sense of urgency to dry mop wet areas of a workplace.

Elevated Heights

Falls from elevated heights in the workplace can produce serious or even life-threatening injuries. The two most common locations where employees fall from elevated heights include ladders and scaffolds. Employees responsible for handling inventory use a ladder to stock and retrieve consumer goods. Examples of employees working from scaffolds include painting the building exteriors and installing signs over businesses. OSHA has created several safety tips to protect workers against falling from elevated heights.

Trip and Falls

Tripping and falling remains a common cause of workplace injuries. Electrical cords running across the full length of a business pose a safety risk, as does flooring in disrepair. Employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of employees by replacing defective flooring, such as tiles and carpeting. A trip and fall incident can produce injuries that range from torn knee ligaments to a fractured wrist and/or collarbone. 

A fall at work lawyer from Morgan and Morgan conducts a detailed investigation to determine the cause of your injuries that resulted from a fall at work.

What Steps Should I Take After a Workplace Accident?

As with a personal injury incident, how you handle the aftermath of a workplace incident that caused you to sustain one or more injuries goes a long way toward determining whether you receive compensation by filing a workers’ comp claim.

Receive Immediate Medical Care

The key to getting the compensation that you deserve from a worker’s comp claim involves seeking medical attention to treat your injuries. When you file a workers’ compensation claim, you also have to submit copies of medical bills and records that demonstrate you received medical care as a direct result of sustaining one or more workplace injuries. If you feel healthy enough to stay at work and notify your employer concerning the workplace accident, you still must get medical care to diagnose and treat your injuries.

Notify Your Employer

Customers that slip and fall at a public venue must notify a manager or owner regarding the personal injury incident. The same principle applies to employees that sustain one or more injuries in the workplace. According to virtually every state, employees are obligated to inform their employers about workplace accidents. If you sustained serious injuries, a fellow worker should notify your employer. After receiving treatment from a healthcare provider, you provide the details of the workplace accident to keep the workers’ compensation claim process moving along. 

Complete and Submit the Claim Form

Each state has created a template for workers’ compensation claim forms. However, all workers’ compensation claims require the filing of similar types of information. First, you must ensure you file a claim that contains accurate information. Second, a workers’ compensation claim should include physical evidence that proves you sustained one or more injuries in the workplace. Third, a fall at work lawyer at Morgan and Morgan interviews witnesses to provide your employer’s insurance company with support for the physical evidence submitted with the claim.

Wait for a Decision

The insurance company processing your workers’ compensation claim might request you to undergo a second series of medical tests to verify the severity of your injuries. Like other types of insurance policies, the value of your employer’s workers’ compensation premiums depends on the number of workplace accidents reported by employees, as well as how many claims your insurance company has approved. This means your employer might ask its insurance company to deny your claim. To prevent the denial of a valid claim, you should hire an experienced fall at work lawyer to submit the most convincing claim.

What Types of Legal Support Does a Morgan and Morgan Fall at Work Lawyer Provide?

The primary role filled by a fall at work lawyer from Morgan and Morgan is to be your advocate when the time comes to file a workers’ compensation claim. When you meet with a Morgan and Morgan attorney for a free case evaluation, you can expect to learn about other ways your lawyer provides legal support.

Gathers and Organizes Evidence

Hiring a workers’ compensation attorney helps you build a strong enough claim for approval because your lawyer knows how to collect the physical evidence you need to submit a compelling workers’ compensation claim. One of the most important types of evidence is the footage captured by security cameras. Most companies install security cameras to provide visual evidence of what transpired before, during, and after personal injury incidents.

Your fall at work lawyer from Morgan and Morgan also interviews witnesses that confirm your version of events.

Negotiates With the Insurance Company

Your workers' compensation claim might remain in limbo because your attorney and the insurance company representing your employer cannot agree on a value for compensation. This is the point in the process when both parties try to negotiate a settlement. The most common reason for a workers’ compensation claim to stall in an insurance company’s processing system regards the value of the costs associated with pain and suffering. Sustaining one or more serious injuries can lead to the development of mental and emotional distress issues.

The fall at work lawyer who represents you calculates a value for pain and suffering by using the same formula used to calculate the value of non-economic damages for personal injury lawsuits.

Represents You at a Hearing

If your workers’ compensation attorney cannot negotiate a settlement, the next step involves moving your claim to a hearing in front of an administrative law judge. The hearing resembles a civil trial, with your attorney presenting physical evidence and asking questions to witnesses that include healthcare industry experts. Your attorney presents a theory of the case at the start of the hearing, which is a short oral statement that explains why you deserve compensation to recover the financial losses caused by your injuries.

Why Morgan and Morgan Is the Right Choice for Your Case

Experience matters, and Morgan and Morgan has compiled more than three decades of experience handling workers’ compensation cases. However, the number of years only tells part of our success story. Our workers’ compensation attorneys have amassed an impressive record of getting our clients the compensation they deserve by filing workers’ compensation claims.

Our fall at work lawyers handle just worker's compensation cases. Many law firms assign litigators to handle workers’ comp cases who also practice other areas of law. You can expect the attorney assigned to your case by Morgan and Morgan to represent you during every step of the claim process. The last thing you want is to hire an experienced attorney with a proven record of success, only to never see the same lawyer again.

Slip and fall accidents can leave behind costly medical tabs that run into thousands of dollars. If you sustained one or more injuries in the workplace, schedule a free case evaluation with a fall at work lawyer from Morgan and Morgan.