Employers have a responsibility to protect their employees, and should have policies in place that inform them about relevant health and safety issues. It is also an employer’s duty to declare incidents and accidents that may occur within their workplace. Some other remedies include providing employees sick leave and other additional benefits. However, there may be cases when an employee approaches an attorney to file a worker’s injury claim and it is determined that the employee is at fault for the injury. What does this mean for the employee’s rights? How can a lawyer ensure that the employee can make a successful claim? Let’s dissect.
What Is Non-Fault Work Injury?
Typically, workplace injuries can arise from many factors. Often, injuries that have a strong claim are those that are classified as non-fault work injury, meaning the employee did their best and the injury still occurred due to someone else’s negligence or due to a situation within the job site. For such cases, the claim is pretty straightforward. You simply have to file the case and submit paperwork, and you wait until compensation is determined. Of course, there may be times when proving fault may be difficult, but this type of claim is far easier to win than an at-fault accident claim.
Can Workers File for a Claim if At Fault?
It is fairly common for lawyers to have clients that wish to file an injury claim where they are at fault, meaning they contributed to the injury. For example, let’s say a backhoe driver loses control of their vehicle and careens off the job site because they failed to check the hydraulics before operating it. In this case, their negligence played a role in the accident. When this happens, it might be difficult to prove that the construction company is liable. However, for workplace accidents wherein another person played a role in the accident, there is a probability of filing a case. Suppose an accident occurred in a San Antonio construction site wherein your client injured himself/herself due to a lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE). While the client may be at fault for doing a task without proper PPE, according to a San Antonio construction accident law firm, clients can bring a case against the employer because the latter is partially at fault for not providing the necessary protection for their employees.
Allocating the extent of blame that caused an accident is a challenging task. This is why clients are often told to seek legal advice from a lawyer before taking responsibility for any liability towards the accident.
Succeeding an At-Fault Claim
As a lawyer, you need to prove that the individual or organization caused the accident. Remember, your client will not be able to claim if they are entirely to blame for the accident. However, they may be able to claim if they were in some measure, at fault, also.
All employees must know that they will receive a compensation payment if they suffered an injury due to a violation of the duty of another employee or organization. This means they can claim compensation because of negligence on the part of the involved individual at fault.
Final Thoughts
Make sure that your client knows and understands how a company handles injuries and accidents that happen to their employees. This way, it is easier for them to understand their rights when it comes to workplace injuries, and it will also help you to have a better grasp of how you can successfully win the case for your client.
