Comparing Personal Injury Lawsuits To Workers’ Compensation Claims

Sometimes it seems obvious that a given accident has occurred while a specific worker was doing his or her job. At other times, the victim might want to compare the features of workers’ compensation with those of a personal injury lawsuit.

Noteworthy features of a personal injury lawsuit:

• Some person or organization must be held responsible for the injury.
• The victim has the right to seek money for pain and suffering.
• The victim can sue the responsible party for pain and suffering.

Noteworthy features of workers’ compensation:

The employer, supervisor or other employee cannot be named at fault. Still, smart employers do their best to limit the number of accidents that take place within the workplace. Injury Lawyer in Barrie knows that the victim has sacrificed his or her right to seek money for pain and suffering.

Factors to consider, when deciding between use of workers’ compensation or a personal injury lawsuit:

Did the injury get sustained during performance of a work-related task?

Did the employee have access to the sort of safety equipment that could have prevented the injury?

Do employees receive the proper training? Is an effort made to watch the way that a given task has been performed? Even a task can be done with ease could pose some risk to the person performing it.

Do employees get rewarded for concerns about safety? Has the employer put a priority on safety? Has safety been sacrificed in order to improve the efficiency of the workplace? Consider where different items have been placed and where extra supplies get stored.

Was the injury the result of a one-time event, or a recurring action? Today, there is an increased focus on repetitive motion injuries. Smart employers make a point of applying the principals that are associated with ergonomics. That can mean purchasing ergonomically-sound furniture.

Measures used by some employers, in order to limit the number of workplace injuries:

Have employees do certain exercises each day before starting to work. These should be exercises that stretch muscles that might get injured if they were to be stretched suddenly and forcibly. This approach can help with the elimination of cases of repetitive motion injuries.

Groups of employees form teams. The teams compete with each other to give the correct answer to specific safety-related questions. Teams encouraged to practice for a planned competition. That increases the length of their exposure to each safety issue. Employer provides employees with access to a place for offering safety-related suggestions. Thus, effort should be made to respond to each suggestion in a timely manner.

Pay close attention to the needs of workers. Have left-handed implements available for use, if a new-hire is left-handed. Be ready to accommodate workers of any size.