Accident at Work

 

Who is an accident attorney

The first point that comes into our mind is -who is an accident attorney? Attorney, as we all know in a common sense, is a lawyer, who is appointed in business or in legal matters to act for others and thus, it can be said that he is an independent third party person and is an impartial one. Accident, as we all know is an unexpected event, which causes harm and it takes place unintentionally.

Thus, if one wish to describe an accident attorney, he can describe it as-‘An accident attorney is a person who acts for the person who has met with an accident and who gathers the evidence from the site where the accident takes place and makes every efforts to ensure that the victim of the accident gets the maximum compensation. I think, now we are in a position that we can go further, having an idea about accident attorney and its role.

Need for an accident attorney

Now, the question arises, why we need an accident attorney. As we all know, if one meets an accident, he is entitled to get a claim, depending upon the situation and the extent of the accident. Whether, its an employer or an insurance company, it has been observed that they try to give the minimum amount of the compensation to the victim. Thus, the rights of the victim are jeopardized and he suffers a loss. This situation calls for a person, who is not related to either of the parties stated above and thus, is an impartial one and who can protect the rights of the accident victims and ensures that the victim gets the proper and legitimate amount of compensation. But it does not mean that he threatens the respective employer or the insurance company. He just ensures that the employer or the insurance company is not securing their financial gains at the cost of the rights of the victim. In the particular case, i.e., accident at work, he ensures that the victim gets the right amount of ‘accident at work compensation’.

Occurance of an accident at work

Though, an accident can happen anywhere, but if it has happened at the work place, the victim is entitled to get compensation. It depends, no doubt, on the cause for the occurrence of the accident and it will decide whether the victim is eligible for the compensation and if yes, what is the amount of the compensation, he is entitled for. Before discussing the causes that leads to an accident, it is very

important to know that accident, generally, is a result of a mistake and mistake can be committed by anybody, as no one is perfect or infallible in this world. So, we should not decide before hand that it is always the fault of the employer that results in the accident. Now we shall discuss the ways of occurrence of the accident, in which the victim is entitled for the compensation. In case, the accident has occurred because of the faulty infrastructure being provided by the employer or because of the malfunctioning of the machinery or because the co-workers were not competent, the victim is definitely entitled to receive the compensation. In case, the accident has occurred because of the mistake of one of the colleagues of the victim, the victim is entitled for the compensation. If the accident has occurred because of unsafe working practices, or lack of proper supervision or training or even if it has occurred due to the breach of the regulations by the employer, the victim is entitled for the compensation. This is because the law has made necessary for the employer to ensure the health and safety of the employees, so that, the incidents of accident at work claims are reduced. But, if it is proved by the employer, that the accident has occurred due to the negligence of the victim while performing his duty, the victim cannot ask for the compensation from the employer and its upon the employer only, whether he gives the claim or not. Thus, the way in which the accident takes place, is very important in getting the compensation. Now the question that arises is-how the accident at work attorney can be of help in getting the compensation? As discussed earlier also, the compensation is awarded to the victim only when it is proved that there has been a fault of the employer. Sometimes, it becomes very difficult to prove the guilt of an employer in the accident. Also, employers tend to give minimum claim to the victims. In this situation, the accident attorney surveys the complete accidental site and sees where the employer has failed to provide the statutory infrastructure that resulted in the accident.

Deciding about claims and going for it

In this part of our discussion, which is last part of our chosen topic also, we would discuss how the accident attorney helps the victim in deciding about the claims that have to be made for the grant of compensation. As these attorneys are having vast experience in dealing such accident cases, first of all they decide about the nature of the illness/injury that has taken place because of the accident and also, how it has affected the victim in carrying out his responsibilities. As far as illness/injury is concerned, what ever may be the nature, it is always embarrassing as it lets the victim down when he cannot achieve his targets or deadlines and thus, jeopardizes the position of the victim. The injury or illness can be in the form of industrial deafness, respiratory illness, amputation of one of the organs of the body, occupational skin diseases, or any injury due to which the victim cannot move or carry out his routine activities. Depending upon the nature of the injury/illness, the claim is made by the accident attorney. Before taking a final decision about the amount of the compensation, the attorney takes many things into consideration and these should be discussed here for the proper understanding of the topic. While chalking out the compensation, the attorney takes the following factors into consideration: »Medical therapies and treatments that have to be made »Various instruments and equipments required »Transport and traveling expenses that will occur »Disadvantage of the injuries/illness to the victim Apart from the above, the basic factor that attorney takes into consideration is that, how much the victim has suffered pain and sufferings due to the accident and how much and in what way, the family of the victim is going to suffer, as every worker has a family to feed and various obligations have to be performed in the due course of time in life. After taking into considerations all the above factors, the accident attorney decides about the compensation and gives clear advice to the victim about the chances of winning the claim and also about the value of the claim. It is only after this, when the victim has to decide whether he wants to go for the said claim in court or not. If the victim decides not to go for the claim, normally, the attorney does not charge any fees for this. In case, the victim decides to go for the claim and the court gives decision in the victim’s favor, the fee of the attorney is borne by the respective employer of the victim. Thus, it can be said that the accident attorney is a person, who is an impartial one, having vast experience of handling ‘accidental’ cases, and who investigates the matter minutely, and then suggests about the value of the claim to the victim and also about the chances of winning that claim. He should be considered as friend, who is there to help the victim and who ensures that the victim gets the full and legitimate amount of compensation.