Workplace Injury: What Workers Need to Know

Your workplace is an area where injurious accidents may happen. Slipping and falling due to a wet floor, burns due to lack of bodily protection against harmful chemicals, and direct assault from a superior—these are only some of the potential causes of injury that employees like you may encounter. When these happen, you have the right to file for claims and be compensated for the damages.

The injury you might sustain at work can either be completely your fault or caused by the negligence of another person or company. While the latter promises compensation, this will be subjected to thorough scrutiny to find out whether or not you contributed to the accident. If the court discovers that your injury was intentional and of your own making, your right to compensation will be revoked.

For the most part, the compensation you will receive will come from your workers' compensation insurance. This is true regardless of who caused or helped cause your injury.

Filing for a workplace injury claim is no easy task, especially if you're still recovering from your injuries. You need the service of a personal injury or disability lawyer to prepare and submit all necessary documents properly and to ensure courtroom victory. 

Just Compensation for Disabled Employees

Employees who sustained an injury in the course of their jobs that resulted in permanent partial disability are entitled to personal disability benefits. Such benefits come in the form of medical provision and financial assistance to answer for hospital and legal expenses. These are meant to serve as just compensation for the pain, suffering, and loss of amenity that was endured by the employee. Benefits are especially important if the injury or disability rendered employees unable to resume work or to return to their original state of health before they were hurt.

Personal disability lawyers can provide the necessary legal assistance that injured or disabled workers require in order to gain the benefits that they are legally entitled to. The lawyers will first study the employee's medical records and review the accounts of the involved parties and witnesses, if any, in order to know the nature and extent of the injury.

Afterwards, personal disability lawyers will evaluate the compensation necessary based on the degree or severity of the sustained injury. Compensation also depends on factors such as how fast the employee can recover physically.

In some cases, medical insurance providers attempt to deny employees' claims so as not to provide for them financially and thereby reduce their own company costs. It is thus the job of disability lawyers to create a case for their clients and ensure that just compensation is given to them.

Lawyers Help Veterans Claim Disability Benefits

Many complain that they they have the worst job in the world. In reality though, very few people face life and death situations in their line of work. Soldiers, however, risk life and limb in the daily course of performing their duties.

What with all the dangers they face, many of them get injured while defending the country.  According to an article from the Huffington Post, a record number of 9-11 veterans are claiming disability benefits from the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs—around 720,000. However, only about a third of these claims have been granted.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has pledged multiple times to fix the inefficient claims system by 2015. For example, claims in 2013 now only take an average of 272 days to be approved, an improvement of 40 percent from 2011. Still, the department is trudging through its backlog of over 900,000 claims, including those from veterans of Vietnam and Gulf Wars.

This has lead veterans to seek the services of disability lawyers, especially when claims have been denied despite the long wait. Disability lawyers can help veterans navigate the complexities of the approval process and negotiate for a better benefits package.

Not everyone is called upon to defend the country, but many brave men and women heed the call. The efficient and fair granting of their disability claims is just one way the country can thank them for their courageous service.

The Fight for Disability Rights in Canada

As with most other people with disabilities around the world, disabled persons in Canada had to go through a lot of difficulties over the past centuries. They were offered little opportunity for gainful employment and quality education, and to be productive members of society. They also had to contend with a lack of mobility, and discrimination from a misunderstanding public.

In the 1970s, the Canadian government finally enacted some laws protecting the disabled and recognizing their rights. The Canadian Human Rights Act, which was passed in 1977, declared that all Canadians, regardless of sex, race, nationality, and disability, had equal rights under the law. While this served to recognize the rights of the disabled, it did not contain specific laws and guidelines addressing the unique concerns of persons with disabilities.

Several key developments took place after this, highlighting the need for better disability laws. These included the creation of the Coalition of Provincial Organizations of the Handicapped, which served as the voice for the country's disabled; and the declaration of 1981 as the Year of the Disabled. In recognition of that year, the Canadian government commissioned a Special Committee on the Disabled and Handicapped to conduct a study on the needs of persons with disabilities. The Committee produced the Obstacles Report, which highlighted the challenges facing the disabled, and presented 130 recommended policies to address these challenges.