A workplace can be a dangerous place. With all the industry in southwest Alabama – from chemical to paper to steel to oil and gas, it is easy to see why we specialize in on-the-job workplace injuries. These injuries cost workers millions of dollars a year in lost income, healthcare expenses, and they effect a worker’s family. They also cost employers in downtime and in worker’s compensation payments.
The most common on-the-job workplace injuries we see in an industrial setting are injuries due to someone removing a safety device or not maintaining a safety device. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for employers to remove guards, rails, and other worker-protection mechanisms. Slip and fall and trip and fall injuries are common as well. Oftentimes, injuries result from defective products in the workplace.
Regardless of how an on-the-job injury occurs, our first goal is to make sure that you receive your worker’s compensation benefits. In Alabama, a worker whose employer has worker’s compensation coverage is entitled to two-thirds of his average weekly pay as compensation for every week that he or she misses because of an on-the-job injury. Employers can refuse to pay these benefits. Sometimes, they argue that you are not hurt. In other cases, they may say that you violated some type of written safety rule. There are many different reasons why an employer may refuse to pay you what you are owed. We fully investigate any of these reasons from your employer, and make sure that you get what you deserve.
Further, because two-thirds of your wages obviously is not going to make you whole, we look to see whether some other party who is not your employer is at fault for your injuries. In those instances, you can pursue what is known as a “third-party claim.” In that claim, we can recover the full amount of your lost wages, and any damages for physical injuries, physical pain, and stress of enduring your injury.
Oftentimes, in workplace injuries, there is a need to receive disability benefits – either from a disability insurance policy or Social Security Disability benefits. If that need arises, we are here to help you obtain those benefits as well.
Basically, when it comes to on-the-job workplace injuries, we cover it all – from worker’s compensation, to incident investigation, to pursuing compensatory damages, and even all the way through the Social Security disability process. That’s our commitment to you – full service for full compensation.