Nevada Worker's Compensation 101
An industrial injury can have a major effect on your life and those around you. Your workplace injury could be the result of a sudden accident or injury, or it could be a repetitive injury that developed over time. There are many issues that surround industrial injuries. Here are some helpful pointers that often come up in Nevada industrial injury claim. Remember, knowledge is strength.
Report Your Accident
When you get injured at work, you need to take the proper steps to ensure that your industrial injury is documented properly. Make sure you file an accident report with your employer (C-1 form) and obtain a copy of the report. There are time limits in Nevada that need to be followed.
Seek Medical Attention
Ask your employer where you are to seek initial medical treatment. At the doctor’s office, you will need to fill out a C-4 form. Pay very close attention to the questions that you answer on the form. Worker’s compensation insurance companies like to look for any statements they feel are inconsistent with what you have reported to other people.
Obtain Witness Statements
If anyone witnessed your accident, ask them to write a statement for
you concerning what they witnessed.
Choose Your Own Treating Physician
Nevada law provides that under certain circumstances, you are entitled to choose your own treating physician. Make sure that the doctor that is treating you is the doctor that you want to see for your industrial injury. It is important that you have a good relationship with your treating physician and trust your doctor's treatment recommendations.
Hire A Certified Nevada Worker’s Compensation Expert/Specialist Attorney
Worker’s compensation law is very complex and there are many pitfalls that you can fall into. If you hire an expert worker’s compensation lawyer, then the expert can help you through the workers compensation maze. Only the State Bar of Nevada can certify a lawyer as an expert or specialist after the lawyer has met all of the many requirements and passed the written and the oral tests. Think twice about representing yourself. There is an old saying - A lawyer who represents himself has a fool as a client. If a lawyer should not represent himself/herself, should an injured worker represent themselves? Probably not.
Be Cautious
Should an injured worker talk directly to the worker's compensation insurance adjuster? Remember, no matter how friendly the adjuster may sound over the telephone, where does the adjuster's loyalty lie, with the injured worker (a complete stranger) or the insurance company who signs the adjuster's paycheck?
Are Injured Workers Entitled To Settlements?
One type of settlement in a Nevada worker's compensation claim is called a Permanent Partial Disability, or PPD for short. Generally, an injured workers is entitled to a permanent partial disability evaluation if they may have suffered a permanent impairment. If so, the industrial insurance carrier should schedule the injured worker for a permanent partial disability evaluation. At the PPD evaluation, the rating physician will determine the percentage of disability that the injured worker suffers from. The insurer may then offer the PPD or contest it. The trick is making sure that the percentage of disability recommended by the rating physician is correct, and if so, is the insurer offering the correct amount of money for the settlement. This is where a lawyer who is a certified worker's compensation expert/specialist is worth every penny.
Get Your Life Back
With the help of your lawyer who is a certified worker's compensation expert/specialist protecting your legal rights and benefits, and a good treating physician and medical team doing their best to help you recover, you need to get your life back on track. The worker's compensation system can be hard and stressful on families. Therefore, injured workers
should put together a good team as soon as possible.
