5 Mistakes To Avoid After A Workplace Injury
Suffering a workplace injury is never a fun time, and that’s putting it mildly. You deserve the space to recover, both physically and mentally, and to claim any compensation you deserve. However, it’s true that after an injury, we’re hardly in our strongest and sharpest state. It’s not as if you’ll be rushing to meeting after meeting or fully uncovering the evidence in your case while you’re trying to heal and deal with the trauma of such a hardship.
However, when you are recovering, it’s important to be mindful of your next steps. If your workplaces are reasonable and just as they should be, they’ll help you through this process and remain fair to you. But not all workplaces are, and it’s important not to just give them the benefit of the doubt, but to make certain your claim is appropriately processed.
In this post, we’ll offer some simple mistakes to avoid when recovering and dealing with the aftermath of a work injury. We hope writing this down in a simple guide can give you a process to follow, especially at a time when confusion and shock are commonly felt.
1: Don’t Apologise For The Experience
If you’re a naturally apologetic person or someone who laments the chaos and difficulty encountered at your workplace, it may be that you hope to communicate this message to your boss. It’s nice to be nice, and if you’re considerate you might feel inclined to apologize for the hassle and how you should have been more careful. But remember that this could potentially be seen as an admission that you were entirely at fault, and that could put your compensation claim into questionable territory. You’ve been injured, and you have nothing to apologize about. Remembering that is key, no matter how personable you want to be for the moment.
2. Processing Without Legal Counsel
It’s always important to contact legal counsel after encountering a work industry. Aston Knight Solicitors help with injury at work compensation, and it’s good to have a team like that in your corner. Even if it’s just a consultation, they can advise you as to your next steps and how solid your case might be. Also be mindful about signing anything from your workplace unless you’ve read through it (such as liability insurance forms), but better yet, not until your legal counsel reads through it. Otherwise, you might be surrendering your right to sue.
3. Neglecting Mental Health Recovery
It’s easy to think of a physical injury as just that, solely physical. But an injury can be traumatic, and often is. Being hurt is harmful to our sense of wellbeing, safety and comfort. The aftereffects of this can last for some time. That’s why it’s important to talk to counseling services when you can, as they enable you to be clear about your experience and feel more comfortable talking about it. So, try finding a company such as goal coach and using one of their services such as occupational therapy, as it can help you to navigate your everyday tasks in life just a little easier. Consequently, this could help you encourage a total recovery more quickly.
4. Failure To Communicate
So far, we’ve been quite focused on how to counter potential issues with your workplace, but of course, they’re rarely actually out to get you, as it were. It’s best to be certain by following the tips in this list, but not to treat them in an accusatory manner. Keeping them updated is key, for example, telling them your legal counsel needs to look at any documents before you sign them, or telling them where you are in your recovery. It’s hard not to feel a little frustrated with your workplace if suffering personal harm while there, but ignoring them helps no one, and may even work against you if you need to prove your willingness to ameliorate the situation in court.
5. Dismissing Your Future
An injury can be life-changing, and so if you feel a sense of despondency or worry about your future, that can be understandable. But it’s important to never give up, and to realize that if possible, your career can recover, or alter to better suit you, even if you choose to move elsewhere. This helps you avoid catastrophic thinking or a sense of failure, which both lead to completely untrue conclusions. Ignore any comparisons or worries about what might have been, such as a promotion you were gunning for that you likely won’t get now. The most important thing that matters if your health and wellbeing, as without that nothing else can continue. It’s important to be optimistic where you can, focus on wellbeing, and lean into the future. It’s a process, but you can do it.
With this advice, you’re sure to recover even after a workplace injury.
*Collaborative post.