If you are a construction worker in New York City, you have probably seen your share of on-the-job injuries. If you are lucky, they were mostly minor. But some may have been particularly grisly, even fatal. It’s just the nature of the industry that sometimes bad things happen to those often working high above the city streets.
But, even when the injury appears to be relatively minor, it’s important to report it. You may scoff at that idea and have many reasons for not reporting it. Perhaps you are undocumented or had taken a drug that was not prescribed to you. Or maybe it is just that you don’t want to seem like a sissy and reporting something that seems so minor.
Let’s say that you stepped on a nail that pierced the sole of your work boot. It’s painful, but you pull out the nail and slap a Band-Aid on your foot. You’re good to go, right?
Maybe not. What if tetanus sets in as a result of the on-the-job injury going untreated? You won’t be able to work and earn money. You also will struggle weeks or months down the line to tie your condition to the nail you stepped onto on the jobsite because you never reported it. Your employer can credibly contest any workers’ compensation benefits to which you apply on these grounds alone.
We help clients who suffer injuries on construction sites get the financial and other benefits that they deserve. But it makes it much easier to recover damages when the injury is timely reported.
