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If you work in Philadelphia or the surrounding areas and you’re injured on the job, you can seek compensation for such financial losses as medical bills and lost wages by filing a claim to recover workers’ compensation benefits. In Pennsylvania, your employer is legally required to purchase workers’ compensation coverage. There are very few exceptions.

Don’t assume the mere act of filing a claim will result in you quickly securing the compensation you deserve. The workers’ compensation process in our state can be somewhat complex and lengthy. There’s a good chance you will need to attend hearings during which a judge will review the relevant evidence to determine whether your request for workers’ compensation benefits should be approved. During these hearings, your employer and/or their insurer may also have the opportunity to present arguments for why your claim should be denied.

You can improve the odds of a judge making a decision in your favor by taking certain critical steps to prepare for a hearing. They include the following:

Report Your Accident

Report your workplace accident to your supervisor right away after being injured. You need to ensure there is an official record of when and where your accident happened.

Identify Witnesses

Determine who might have witnessed your accident. Many of these individuals are likely to be coworkers. If a witness is a customer or someone else you don’t know, be sure to get their name and contact information.

Document the Scene

Take pictures of the conditions at the scene of your accident. Depending on the circumstances, they may help you show your accident occurred when you were performing a work task. This can prevent an insurance company from suggesting you are not owed benefits because your accident wasn’t work-related.

Take note of any video cameras (such as security cameras) that might have been on and recording when your accident happened. Ask your supervisor, the property owner, or any other such relevant party that footage of your accident be saved so that you can review it later.

See a Doctor

Seek medical attention right away after a workplace accident. Even if you don’t notice any signs of injury, it’s possible you have been injured without realizing it.

Along with confirming whether you do or don’t need treatment if it turns out that you are injured, seeing a doctor on the same day of your accident can help you establish a link between your accident and your injuries. Thus, an insurer will have a difficult time arguing your injuries might have been sustained in an unrelated incident.

Hire a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Taking all the above steps will help you preserve evidence that you must gather and present at your workers’ compensation hearing. However, taking full advantage of the evidence available to you may require conducting a thorough investigation.

This is one of many tasks a Philadelphia workers’ compensation attorney at Gross & Kenny, LLP can handle on your behalf. We will make sure you are thoroughly prepared for all workers’ compensation hearings you may be required to attend. Learn more about what we can do for you by contacting us online or calling us at 215-512-1500.