Hand Injuries At Work

Your hands are the most useful, and valuable tool that you have. If you are cooking, writing, typing, or doing anything you use your hands and fingers to get the job done. When you injure your hand you could be incapable of doing the most basic things for yourself.

Buttoning jeans without your hands is very hard to do. Tying your shoes, fixing a cup of coffee, or opening a bottle of water, are all made very challenging if you take away the hands that you were born with.

If you injure your hands at work because of faulty equipment, or because someone else was negligent, then your entire life is disrupted, and changed. When you injure your hands and the employer does not provide adequate compensation for your loss then you have no alternative than to file a compensation claim.

Percentage of hand injury at work claims

Of personal injury claims the ones from people hurt while performing their job duties make up about half of all claims. Work related hand injury claims make up more than forty percent of all work related injuries. This is partially due to the fact that the hands are vital tools in every job category. The hands are our first defense, and the hands are our protection when we are falling. When we fall we automatically throw our hands out to try and reduce the impact on our head and body the fall might have.

Hand injuries can be minor injuries that result in cuts that need stitches, lost fingernails, broken fingers, bruises, burns and scrapes. They can also be serious injuries that involve broken fingers that have to be surgically reset, or amputated fingers, paralysed hands from deep cuts, disfiguring burns, and more. Hand injuries may require a nurse and a bandage or they may require a surgeon and several weeks stay in a hospital for recovery.

What to do if you injure your hand at work

If you have an accident at work that causes an injury to your hand then you should remember the following things.

1. Report the injury to your superior as soon as it happens. An unreported injury may be ignored by the employer, and if you wait the employer may question whether you got the injury on the job.
2. Allow yourself to get medical treatment. You need to follow the company policy concerning medical treatment. If they want you to go to see a doctor do not refuse to do so. If it turns out your hand is okay it is better to have seen the doctor than to have not seen one and find out your hand is permanently injured.
3. Get the names and contact information of all people who may have witnessed the incident. If you have to file a hand injury claim later this information will be very important.
4. Write down the name of the supervisor, what they said about the incident, and what was done for you by the company
5. Find a solicitor before accepting any settlements

Hiring a Solicitor

Just because you talk to a solicitor does not mean that you are hiring a solicitor. You can talk to one of these professionals, get their expert opinion about your case, and then decide if you want them to represent you, or if you want to handle the case yourself. Most solicitors that deal in hand injury at work claims offer a no charge consultation so you will not be out any money for having gone to see the solicitor.

The solicitor will listen to your story and they will be able to tell you what types of compensation you are qualified to claim. They will tell you what your chances of winning your case are. They will be able to make you feel better about the situation you are in.

What if the employer’s insurance offers you a settlement?

The insurance adjuster is banking on the fact that when they offer you a settlement you will be needing cash and you will snatch that settlement up without thinking about the offer too carefully. If you consult with a solicitor they will look at the settlement with a level head and they will advice you as to whether or not you are being properly compensated, in their opinion.