It’s your employer’s job to ensure that your work environment is safe for you and everyone else. Even when the proper precautions are made, accidents can still happen and people can end up hurt. If you happen to receive a work injury, there are a few things that you need to do to ensure you’ll be able to receive the proper care that you need. Here’s a quick list of the things you need to do after an accident occurs on the job.
1. Report the Injury to Your Employer
When the injury occurs, it’s vital to tell the appropriate people who something went wrong. You should alert your supervisor or any other nearby person whom you report to.
It’s important that you do this not only for your safety, but the safety of others as well.
2. Seek Emergency Care
If the injury could be serious, then you need to seek immediate medical treatment. Lacerations, crushed limbs and anything that causes severe pain should be checked out. Injuries to the head, neck and back should be treated as soon as possible after the accident occurs.
3. Seek a Physical Therapist
Once any injuries that require immediate medical treatment have been treated, it’s time to look towards the road to recovery. Seeking out a physical therapist can reduce the amount of time that you spend injured, reduce or eliminate any lasting effects of the injury, and get you back to working as soon as possible.
Physical therapists can help with a number of symptoms stemming from work-related injuries. Some of the injuries they can aid in recovering are listed below.
Full range of motion in limbs
Muscle and tendon function, especially in the case of severe injuries
Back injuries
Injuries that can cause lasting pain
4. Keep Up With Your Treatment Plan
By this point, the hardest part of recovering from a work-related injury has just started. You need to keep up with the treatment plan decided by your doctor or physical therapist.
This means taking any medication and performing the necessary physical exercises to ensure that the treatment is a success. Only so much can be done by doctors and physical therapists when you visit them, which means that the rest of the road to recovery is up to you.
5. Don’t Be Afraid to Seek More Help
Some work injuries can heal and be pain-free for years. Others can cause chronic pain and problems that can impair your daily functioning.
If you end up with complications after you think you’ve recovered from your injury, then don’t be afraid to seek medical advice. The most important component in healing from your work injury is about ensuring that you stay on top of your own well-being.