As we can tell when we commute to work on a normal day, every morning, thousands of workers through San Antonio and Bexar County head to work to make a living. Many will spend hours sitting at a desk inside an office, but thousands more will stock the shelves at a retail store or organize a warehouse for customers, and thousands more will work to build our city as construction workers, where they will dodge heavy falling objects and heavy equipment operating on the job.
At the same time, service workers will carry heavy trays of food across floors that are often wet and slippery. And even though the oil and gas industry is in a “bust” phase right now, the thousands who work in that industry when it is “booming” frequently face difficult circumstances, in which they are surrounded by toxic chemicals
All Workplaces Can See Accidents
The one thing all workers have in common is an entitlement to a safe workplace. No matter where you work in San Antonio, Bexar County, and beyond, your employer is required to make the workplace as safe as possible for everyone who works there. Every workplace in San Antonio, Bexar County, and beyond includes the risk of a workplace injury, but every employer is charged with the responsibility to mitigate that a much as possible. Every worker is entitled to a safe-as-possible workplace.
That is because workplace injuries have the potential to change the worker’s life in many negative ways. They can limit the worker’s ability to continue working and making a living, often for a long period of time. In some cases, the effects can last for years, or even a lifetime and cost tens of thousands of dollars or even more. In some cases, a workplace injury can lead to a fatality.
Despite the requirement that employers make workplaces as safe as possible, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, via the Texas Department of Insurance’s Workers’ Compensation Division, more than 214,000 Texans were injured on the job in 2018 alone, with nearly 600 of them injured fatally.
What Are the Most Common Workplace Accidents in San Antonio?
Like workers everywhere else in the country, San Antonio’s workers all have the right to feel safe in their work environment, regardless of the job’s potential risk. Unfortunately, if there is a workplace accident, employers and their insurance companies don’t always maintain their focus on making sure their workers are compensated for any damages that result from the accident.
While some jobs are undeniably riskier than others, accidents can happen to virtually anyone at any time and in any workplace. For example, the most common workplace accident comes when there is a car accident, which happens when workers are required to drive long distances while on duty. Unfortunately, car accidents are just the most common accident in the workplace. in a much longer list of possible workplace mishaps. Following is a list of the other common workplace accident types in San Antonio, in descending order, from most common to less common:
- Slips and falls;
- Burns;
- Broken bones;
- Whiplash;
- Muscle strains and tears;
- Injuries from a falling object;
- Exposure to toxic fumes;
- Exposure to harmful substances;
- Strain from repeated motion.
How You Can Get Compensation
The fact of the matter is, the circumstances surrounding each workplace accident tend to be vastly different, due to the wide range of variables present in each workplace. That said, compensation can usually be classified within a few very broad categories, based on a few fundamental types of damages. Getting compensation can be relatively easy, as long as everything is covered by the employer’s Workers’ Compensation insurance, but if you are not receiving regular pay and/or payment for medical bills, you should definitely speak to a San Antonio workplace injury lawyer, like those at the Hill Law Firm. Whether you are or are not covered by Workers’ Comp, whatever the reason, you should definitely speak to a lawyer. Sometimes, a workplace accident can be proven to have been caused in part by a third party who is not the employer (for example; a car accident results from a recalled defective vehicle, so you should at least consult with an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer to assess that possibility.
Many workplace accident victims are entitled to compensation for all of the following potential damages:
- Medical compensation, including prescriptions, physical therapy, and any potential future medical costs, if applicable;
- All costs due to pain and suffering;
- Loss of income, business costs and lost revenue for a small business;
- Long-term care costs and disability benefits
- Workers’ death benefits and final expenses
If your employer fails to provide workers’ comp and you are able to prove negligence on their part, you may be able to pursue all of the above and other types of costs, depending on the circumstances.