Accidents on the job are not unusual, and employers often have procedures to help injured employees. Unfortunately, not all employers take care of their employees, and legal action might be necessary.
How your on-the-job accident occurred may vary based on the kind of work you do and your typical work environment. We often think of serious accidents as being connected with dangerous workplaces, like construction sites or factories. However, dangerous accidents can occur in an office. Employers are often held responsible for creating the conditions that led to the accident, but other parties might be implicated under certain circumstances. Your damages might be significant depending on the severity of your injuries and the time you cannot return to work. Before you can get any damages, we need evidence showing how the defendant directly caused your accident. This can be difficult, and you should ask an attorney for help.
Reach out to our workplace accident lawyers if you were hurt on the job by calling (732) 838-9769 and make an appointment for a free case review with us at Legal Care New Jersey.
How a Workplace Accident Might Happen at Your Job in Passaic, NJ
Accidents might happen in the workplace for an uncountable number of reasons. How your accident happened largely depends on what kind of job you have and where you work. While some places might be considered more inherently risky than others, accidents are possible almost anywhere.
A major cause of accidents in the workplace is faulty or damaged tools and machinery. If you work with power tools or heavy machinery, these items need to be in safe working condition. If a tool or piece of equipment is damaged or defective, it might cause serious injuries when the next worker goes to use it.
Some accidents happen because the work area is not as safe as it should be. Maybe the floor was wet because of a spill that nobody cleaned up. Perhaps the stairs in your office building were in disrepair and caused you to trip and fall down the stairs. Your employer is generally responsible for providing a safe and clean work environment. They might be held liable if unsafe premises caused your injuries.
Some accidents do not happen all at once. Instead, workers might be injured over time by performing repeated physical tasks. For example, if your job requires you to lift heavy items or objects, even just to put them away on a shelf, this repeated labor might cause back injuries over time. In such a case, our workplace accident lawyers can get medical records from the many years you were employed to show how your injuries became worse over time.
People Responsible for Accidents and Injuries in the Workplace in Passaic, NJ
In many accident cases, employers are held responsible. An employer is responsible for a lot, including workplace safety. Even if an employer is not directly involved in an accident, they might be responsible for creating or allowing unsafe conditions that contributed to the accident. An employer might be liable for something as serious as a machinery malfunction or something as minor as a wet floor.
Sometimes, people unconnected to the accident or the workplace are still responsible for the accident. For example, the manufacturer might be responsible if an employee is injured because of a defective tool they commonly use for work. The manufacturer might be liable if the item was damaged or defective when it arrived at the workplace, and the employee and their boss did not know about the defect. On top of that, anyone in the chain of sale of the defective tool, like a retailer, might also be held responsible for selling the faulty item.
Damages You Should Claim in a Workplace Accident Case in Passaic, NJ
Medical costs are notoriously expensive, even when injured victims have health insurance. Without insurance, an injured victim might spend thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars on medical care. Severe injuries might be so cost-prohibitive that people have no hope of paying down the debt. Whether you have insurance or not, keep a thorough record of your medical costs, as they should be added to your overall damages.
People hurt on the job often cannot return to work for a while. While some workers are fortunate enough to have paid time off so they do not lose income, PTO might only extend so far. People out of work for weeks or months might lose substantial income. We can help you calculate how much income you have lost and demand it is repaid.
Certain non-economic damages may also be claimed. These damages are not always related to money, but they deserve compensation. Among these various damages are your physical pain and emotional or mental suffering. Many people hurt at work report feeling deeply humiliated in front of their colleagues and supervisors. You might be able to claim damages related to your tarnished professional reputation.
Gathering Evidence of Your Workplace Accident in Passaic, NJ
Evidence in these cases might be hard to access because much of it is in the hands of the defendant, your employer. For example, security cameras are common in many workplaces, and the footage from these cameras is usually under your employer’s control. This footage might be the key evidence in your case, but getting it might be hard. If the footage is not saved right away, it might be deleted. Defendants sometimes hesitate to turn over this evidence, and we might need a court order to get it.
We should also look for records from your work pertaining to the accident and your routine job duties. For example, suppose you were injured in a forklift accident in a warehouse where you work because the forklift operator was tired and passed out. Next, suppose records from your employer show that your tired coworker had worked very long hours with no days off for some time. In such a situation, your employer might be liable for exhausting their employee before putting them in a risky situation (i.e., driving a forklift). The records from your employer are necessary to prove these claims.
Did your accident happen in front of other people? Were coworkers, customers, or clients present for the accident? If so, these people might have valuable testimony that might shed light on how the accident happened and who is responsible. The more witnesses you have in your corner, the stronger your case may be.
Medical records might be necessary if details about your injuries are disputed. For example, the defendant might argue that your injuries are less severe than you claim. We can use your medical records to prove otherwise. As such, you must see a doctor as soon as possible after the accident.
Contact Our Passaic, NJ Workplace Accidents Attorneys for Support
Reach out to our Newark personal injury lawyers if you were hurt on the job by calling (732) 838-9769 and make an appointment for a free case review with us at Legal Care New Jersey.
