One of the most important things that you can do if you’ve had an accident at work is to figure out who is at fault. If it was your fault, you will have to pay the bills yourself, or your insurance will have to pay. If it was your employer’s fault, the company or the company’s insurance will be responsible.
For minor injuries, this might not make much of a difference, but it can be quite important when you are talking about thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. You have to get it all sorted out.
One thing to consider is whether or not the working environment is safe. Your employer is obligated to provide you with a safe work environment at all times. For example, perhaps you fell down a flight of stairs because the handrail that you were holding onto came out of the wall, broke, and gave you no support. This is not your fault, clearly, since you were going down the stairs in a safe fashion and holding onto the rail. You should not be held responsible for the monetary obligations because your employer did not make sure that the building was in good condition.
Another thing to consider is if you felt like you were pressured into an unsafe situation that then led to the injury. Perhaps you threw out your back when you picked up something that was clearly too heavy for you to carry. Did you tell your boss that you could not pick it up and then he told you to do it anyway if you did not want to lose your job? Some employers have been found guilty of doing things like this and thereby causing the injuries to happen, which would then remove all of the blame from you.
Finally, you have to think about whether or not you had the right tools for the job. Could the item that you picked up, when you were hurt, have been picked up with a mechanical winch? Should you have been using a forklift instead? Your employer has to give you the right tools for the job if he or she expects you to do it, tools that will both keep you from harm and make your job easier. If you were denied these things for any reason, you could have a case against your employer or your boss.