Why You Should Visit a Doctor After a Fall at Work

As children, we take it as second nature to injure ourselves through trips and falls. However, as we get older, this becomes more of a risk to our health and well-being than just an inconvenience. When you fall at home, you don't think twice about it. Especially if you feel that not that much damage has been done, you pick yourself up and dust yourself off, and you're good to go.  

You might find out a couple of days later that the situation is more complicated than you assumed. However, if a fall occurs at your place of work, the process needs to be taken with much more seriousness and care. At the top of the list, regardless of the fall outcome, you need to make sure that you visit a doctor immediately. Here are a few reasons why this is so important. 

The Time at Which You Visit the Doctor Matters

If you put off visiting the doctor and don't do so immediately after the slip and fall incident, this could put you at a disadvantage later on when trying to make your case. It could be argued that the incident happened elsewhere. But if you go immediately after it happens, you can prove solely by the time that this indeed did occur at the workplace, and it makes your case much more robust. People who suffer from concussions, for example, don't necessarily feel the effects right away and cannot get a legit diagnosis unless they visit the doctor immediately. You also need to ensure that right before you head out to the hospital, the HR department is notified of the incident so that they, too, have a recorded time of when this happened and have it coincide with the doctor's records.

You Need Detailed Documentation

Going to a doctor immediately after a slip and fall accident means that you will have more credible documentation. If you can, try to take pictures of where the incident happened so that you can show them to your doctor. This way, they can write a much more comprehensive and trustworthy report of what took place and how the damage occurred in detail. If you're not sure of what kind of documentation is necessary, it is advised that you have a lawyer on call. Specialized lawyers based in a reasonable Fort Wayne personal injury attorney practice advise that you contact your lawyer immediately so that they can guide you on how to move forward. By doing so, you'll be able to ask for all the necessary paperwork from your doctor. This could include an x-ray or a more detailed scan, depending on your fall's severity and nature, and comprehensive reports coupled with any other tests that you carry out about the incident. 

This Will Determine Who Will Pay Your Medical Bills

The value of visiting a doctor after a fall at work is more important than you imagine because being able to have these details could make or break the decision of whether your employer will be obliged to take care of your medical bills or not. This will also play a hand if you need to look into having your insurance company compensate the amounts paid for your treatment. 

Going Against Doctor's Instruction Will Prevent You from Compensation

This may sound a little extreme, but rest assured, it does happen! If the incident is severe enough, employers may go as far as hiring private investigating officers to check whether you have been complying with your doctor's instructions during your recovery time or not. This is important for you because if not, the situations could be turned around, and you can be blamed for neglect, destroying any chance of getting compensation for your medical bill and putting your job at risk.

It may seem like a very mechanical and calculated process to go through, especially after a situation where you find your health and well being at risk. Still, several reasons must visit your doctor immediately after a slip and fall incident. You are ensuring that you take care of your health directly. Nevertheless, you also are doing a great favor for your colleagues to ensure that they are aware of the danger present and that no one else has to be confronted with a hazardous situation again. Additionally, it would be best if you were not held responsible for your employer's neglect, who ultimately put his employees in danger and should be held accountable for this.