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Accidents that occur at work can range from minor to traumatic. Some have minimal impact on a worker’s ability to return to the job, but serious accidents resulting in brain injuries can be life-changing. These injuries can happen in a number of different ways, including violent acts on the job, machine entanglement, and vehicle crashes. A worker may suffer a brain injury from walking into a stationary object, from an object falling onto their head, from themselves falling from a height, and from slip and fall accidents. The different ways that brain injuries can occur and the wide range of severity of these injuries make each circumstance different, but in all cases when a worker suffers a brain injury on the job, they are entitled to workers’ compensation. The Lancaster workers’ compensation attorneys at Vanasse Law, LLC are here to help and guide you as to the steps you need to take to protect your rights and get the compensation and benefits that you deserve.
When you have suffered an injury on the job in Pennsylvania, there are are certain steps that you must take in order to ensure that your rights to file for workers’ compensation are protected. It is important that you report your injury properly, immediately reporting the incident to your supervisor, personnel department or union steward as soon as possible. When you do so, you should be sure to provide them with the date of the injury, where the accident occurred, and what part of your body was impacted. This must be done within 120 days of the accident. Reporting the accident within 21 days makes you eligible to receive benefits after missing work for seven days.
Once you have reported the incident, you need to make sure that all of your injuries and medical bills are well documented. You should seek medical attention as soon as possible – this may need to be from a physician approved by your employer. Make sure that you follow all of the doctor’s treatment instructions and keep notes on everything.
Within three weeks of receiving notification of your injury, your employer can either accept or deny your claim. If they accept then benefits will soon be provided, but if they deny then they may either pay benefits without accepting liability or issue a denial. Then you have three years from the incident to file a petition with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and to have your case heard by a Workers’ Compensation judge. Having an experienced attorney by your side to act as your advocate is essential and will make a big difference in your success. Should the judge decide against you, a Lancaster workers’ comp attorney can then help you with an appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, the Commonwealth Court, and even to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The impact of a brain injury can last a lifetime. If you have suffered a brain injury as a result of an incident at work, then make sure that you have a passionate workers’ compensation attorney working on your side to make sure that you get all appropriate compensation. Contact the law firm of Vanasse Law, LLC today.