What To Do After Being Injured at Work in Arkansas

I Was Injured at Work, Now What?

If you are injured at work in Arkansas, the steps you take immediately after your injury can have a significant impact on your ability to easily collect the workers’ compensation benefits you are entitled to. After your injury, take the following steps:

• Step One: Report Accident to Supervisor – Report your accident to your supervisor immediately after it happens. Even if you believe that you are uninjured, reporting the accident is critical and will alert your supervisor to the fact that you may have been injured.
• Step Two: Report Injury to Supervisor – Once you realize that you are injured, report this injury to your supervisor as well. Waiting a day or even over the weekend to report the incident will increase the likelihood of your workers’ compensation claim being denied. They may believe that your injury stemmed from an incident that happened over the weekend and not the accident that occurred at work.
• Step Three: See a Doctor – Get a qualified medical diagnosis of an injury in order to qualify for benefits. Some workers’ compensation policies require injured employees to see a specific doctor. You may need to ask your employer if there is a specific doctor you should see. However, you are also allowed to get a second opinion if you’re not satisfied with the workers’ compensation physician’s diagnosis.
• Step Four: Fill out the Official Claim Form – Your employer will give you an official claim form to fill out as part of the workers’ compensation process. If you do not get one, you can request one from the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Board. This form should provide the following information:
  • Type of injury
  • Affected area of body
  • Date, time and location of injury
  • Parties involved in the incident
  • How the accident occurred
  • Treatment received
• Step Five: Gather Evidence – If you are able, gather evidence. You may need to jot down the names and numbers of any eyewitnesses. Their individual testimony could be helpful to your case if your claim is unfairly denied. Take pictures of the accident scene, including anything that could have contributed to your incident and injuries. Take pictures from various angles and distances to give your attorney a better view of the area where the accident occurred.
• Step Six: Contact an attorney – An attorney can help speed up the workers’ compensation process significantly. Your attorney can ensure that all the necessary forms are filed and that your claim is processed efficiently, so you can get the benefits you are entitled to. If your claim is denied, your attorney can help you throughout the appeals process.

What Is Workers’ Compensation, and Do I Qualify?

Arkansas has specific laws in place to protect injured workers. Here, employers with three or more employees are required by law to have workers’ compensation insurance coverage for their workers. When an employee is injured on the job, this insurance will help pay for medical expenses and a portion of their lost wages.

To qualify for workers’ compensation in Arkansas, however, injured employees must meet specific criteria:

• Must be an employee of the company
• Company must have workers’ compensation insurance or is supposed to have a workers’ compensation insurance policy
• You must have been injured at work as a result of job-related duties
• Must not have willfully caused accident or injuries to occur
• Must not have been drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident

While it may seem easy to obtain workers’ compensation benefits after an on-the-job accident, this is not always the case. Injured workers may be misclassified as temporary workers or contract workers, or they may claim you had a pre-existing injury that did not worsen at work. For these reasons, it is important to have an experienced and skilled workers’ compensation lawyer on your side from the very start.

We’re There When You Need Us After a Work Injury in Arkansas

When you’ve been injured on the job, you may face an uphill battle when trying to collect the benefits you are entitled to. When an insurance company unfairly denies your claim or if you are being pressured into returning to work too soon, you need an experienced and skilled law firm on your side to protect your rights. At Rainwater, Holt, & Sexton, our workers’ compensation attorneys fight aggressively for your future and help you navigate what to do after being injured at work in Arkansas.